Department of Health and Social Care

General Practitioners: Rural Areas

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many rural GP practices were closed by the NHS in 2017.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to limit the number of rural GP practices that close each year.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost per year of running a rural GP practice is.

Steve Brine: Data is not held centrally on the average cost per year of running a rural general practitioner (GP) practice. NHS England contracts for the provision of general practice services in England with GP contractors who are responsible for running their practices and meeting the costs of doing so. The latest ‘NHS Payments to general practice – England’ report published in December 2018, covering the 2017/18 financial year, provides information on National Health Service payments to individual providers of general practice services in England. The report is available from the NHS Digital website at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-payments-to-general-practice/england-2017-18 In 2017/18, there were 1,193 practices with a ‘rural’ indicator and these received total payments of £1,738,904,818, an average payment of £1,457,590 per rural practice. NHS England has not conducted an analysis of information held on practice closures to distinguish between urban and rural practice closures. NHS England and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee have agreed a five-year GP contract framework from 2019/20 which marks some of the biggest general practice contract changes in over a decade and will be essential to deliver the ambitions set out in the NHS Long Term Plan through strong general practice services. The contract increases investment and more certainty around funding and looks to reduce pressure and stabilise general practice. It will ensure general practice plays a leading role in every Primary Care Network which will include bigger teams of health professionals working together in local communities. It will mean much closer working between networks and their Integrated Care System. This builds on the General Practice Forward View commitments which included dedicated £40 million support programme for struggling practices to help them become more resilient – with over 3,000 packages of support delivered in 2017/18.

Asthma: Greater London

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) adults and (b) children attended (i) Lewisham Hospital A&E and (ii) Kings College Hospital A&E as a result of asthma in each year since 2010; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of A&E admissions for asthma.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) adults and (b) children were admitted to hospital as a result of asthma in (i) Lewisham borough, (ii) London and (iii) England in each year since 2010.

Steve Brine: Data is not available in the format requested. A count of attendances to accident and emergency with a primary diagnosis of respiratory conditions, for those aged under 18 and over 18, at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, for the years 2010-11 to 2017-18, can be found in the attached table. Data is not available in the format requested. A count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary diagnosis of asthma for the age groups 0-17 years and 18 years and over, in Lewisham local authority of residence, London government office region of residence and England, for the years 2010-11 to 2017-18, can be found in the attached table. The data in both tables should not be described as a count of people as the same person may have been admitted to hospital on one or more occasion.



PQ217028 attached table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 19.64 KB)




PQ217029 attached table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 25.14 KB)

Asthma: Medical Equipment

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many asthma inhalers have been issued in (a) Lewisham borough, (b) London and (c) England to (i) children and (ii) adults in each of the last 10 years.

Steve Brine: The NHS Business Services Authority does not hold a complete data set for patient level data as age data is not held for all patients. As the medical condition is not available on or captured from the prescription form we are unable to identify the reason for why an inhaler is prescribed. Our organisational hierarchy does not include boroughs and so we cannot group data at this level. A total figure for all medication used to treat respiratory conditions has been provided. The data does not distinguish between conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and also may contain non-inhaler medication. Regional data is only available from January 2014. The following table shows the number of prescription items used to treat respiratory conditions by calendar year. Calendar YearEngland ItemsLondon Area ItemsLewisham Clinical Commission Group Items201452,263,5075,398,929192,551201553,111,2305,409,083192,893201654,035,4195,500,890196,294201753,991,5075,478,939196,8312018 (not including December)49,029,9134,912,130176,739

Blood: Donors

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on advertising directly to men who have sex with men to inform them of recent changes to the rules on blood donation.

Jackie Doyle-Price: In November 2017, when the change to the blood donor criteria for men who have sex with men came into force, a media release was distributed to national, regional and trade media. Posts on blood donation social media channels also directed individuals to this information. NHS Blood and Transplant has and will continue to engage with key stakeholders such as the Terrance Higgins Trust, the National Aids Trust and Stonewall on this issue. Further to this activity, NHS Blood and Transplant has not conducted paid for advertising to advertise the change. NHS Blood and Transplant is committed to exploring whether a more individualised approach to risk assessment could be taken to donor selection and expects to report on its findings regarding new evidence and new technologies for assessing risk by 2020.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Research

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to allocate additional funding to support biomedical research into the diagnosis and treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Caroline Dinenage: The National Institute for Health Research welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including myalgic encephalomyelitis; it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

Mental Health Services

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 January 2019 to Question 209278 on Mental Health Services, (a) what proportion of people aged 18 and over in contact with National Health Service-funded secondary mental health services the 4,224 figure represents and (b) how his Department defines a speech related disability.

Jackie Doyle-Price: At the end of October 2018, 941,561 people were recorded as being in contact with National Health Service-funded mental health services and aged 18 and over. Therefore, the figure of 4,224, for people who were also recorded as having a speech related disability, represents 0.45% of the total. The data is sourced from the Mental Health Services Dataset (MHSDS). In the MHSDS User Guidance, the specific Code used to record speech related disabilities defines its use as appropriate in cases where “the patient has difficulty speaking or using language to communicate or make their needs known”. The guidance is available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-sets/mental-health-services-data-set/mental-health-services-data-set-specifications-and-guidance

Speech Therapy: Training

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2019 to Question 211069 on Speech Therapy: Training, which professionals does he envisage the statutory Code of Practice will detail as those who can become Approved Mental Capacity Professionals.

Caroline Dinenage: Subject to further consultation and development of the Code of Practice the government envisage that the professionals which could take on the role of Approved Mental Capacity Professionals would include Social Workers, Learning Disability Nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists and other suitable health and social care professionals as appropriate.

Speech Therapy

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of speech and language therapists in the NHS.

Caroline Dinenage: The number of speech and language therapists working in the National Health Service in England has increased every year over the last five years. The Department is taking forward a range of measures to continue to increase these numbers across England. This includes the ‘We are the NHS’ campaign, which focused on increasing the number of applications through Universities and Colleges Admissions Service for nursing and allied health professional degree courses beginning in September 2019. Acceptances onto speech and language therapy undergraduate courses in England in 2018 are the highest they have ever been since 2012. Health Education England (HEE) Health Careers service regularly promotes the profession in line with other Health Career campaigns. HEE leads an Allied Health Return to Practice programme, where qualified speech and language therapists can undertake a programme in order to return to work in the NHS in England. Speech and language therapy education and training and recruitment and retention in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland is a matter for the devolved Governments in each nation.

Dermatology: Vacancies

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of workforce shortages in the NHS on the delivery of dermatology services.

Stephen Hammond: It is the responsibility of National Health Service trusts to have staffing arrangements in place that deliver safe and effective care. This includes recruiting the staff needed to support these levels and meet local needs. Dermatology is a highly competitive specialty training pathway and often oversubscribed. Nationally and locally there has been a 100% fill rate in dermatology training for the past four years. In May 2010 there were 464 full time equivalent dermatologists (doctors at the consultant grade) and in October 2018 there were 577 full time equivalent dermatologists – a 24% increase. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has commissioned Baroness Dido Harding, working closely with Sir David Behan, to lead a number of programmes to engage with key NHS interests to develop a detailed workforce implementation plan. These programmes will consider detailed proposals to grow the workforce, including consideration of additional staff and skills required, build a supportive working culture in the NHS and ensure first rate leadership for NHS staff. Baroness Harding will present initial recommendations to the Department in spring 2019. A final workforce implementation plan will follow later in the year, taking into account the outcomes of the Spending Review.

NHS: Recruitment

Sandy Martin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the workforce implementation plan will include the level of investment required to fund proposed increases in NHS staffing levels.

Stephen Hammond: A final workforce implementation plan will be published later in the year, taking into account the outcomes of the Spending Review. We recognise the importance of workforce training to underpin effective long-term National Health Service planning. That is why we have already made commitments in this Spending Review into the next Spending Review period – for example on medical training places. At the forthcoming Spending Review, we will consider proposals from the NHS for a multi-year funding plan for clinical training places, based on the workforce requirements of the NHS plan.

Cancer: Health Services

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the forthcoming NHS workforce implementation plan ensures that there are sufficient numbers of staff to diagnose and treat cancer.

Steve Brine: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has commissioned Baroness Dido Harding, working closely with Sir David Behan, to lead a number of programmes to engage with key National Health Service interests to develop a detailed workforce implementation plan. These programmes will consider detailed proposals to grow the workforce rapidly, including staff working on cancer, consider additional staff and skills required, build a supportive working culture in the NHS and ensure first rate leadership for NHS staff.

NHS: Recruitment

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the forthcoming workforce implementation plan will be funded to ensure any recommendations for increased NHS staffing levels are delivered.

Stephen Hammond: A final workforce implementation plan for England will be published later in the year, taking into account the outcomes of the Spending Review. We recognise the importance of workforce training to underpin effective long-term National Health Service planning in England. We have already made commitments in this Spending Review into the next Spending Review period – for example on medical training places. At the forthcoming Spending Review, we will consider proposals from the NHS for a multi-year funding plan for clinical training places, based on the workforce requirements of the NHS plan. Funding of education and training in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland is a matter for each of the devolved administrations in each nation.

Endometriosis

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2019 on Question 206437 on Endometriosis, if he will undertake a full review of the number of women affected by Endometriosis to be held centrally.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department has not made an estimate of the number of women living with endometriosis in the United Kingdom. However, the Hospital Episode Statistics database contains a count of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) with a primary diagnosis of endometriosis broken down by financial year. The last three years of this data are provided in the following table. Financial yearCount of FCEs2015-1620,6132016-1721,0502017-1821,777 This data is not a count of people as the same person may have been admitted on one or more occasion. This may not be an accurate reflection of the number of diagnosed incidents of this condition, as not all patients will be admitted to hospital for treatment.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to assist local authorities in providing support for children in homes where there is parental alcohol misuse.

Steve Brine: Public Health England (PHE) is working with nine areas (covering 13 local authorities) to help improve the lives of children impacted by their parents’ alcohol dependency through a £4.5 million innovation fund which runs over three financial years. Further information on the nine areas can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-to-help-improve-the-lives-of-those-affected-by-alcohol To support all local authorities, PHE has produced a toolkit for commissioners of alcohol and drug services and commissioners of children and family services. It helps them to understand the extent of the problem of parental alcohol and drug use in their area, the number of children in those households and how this can impact them and provides advice on responding to local need. PHE has also produced guidance for substance misuse services and children’s services to help them work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The PHE toolkit and the guidance can be viewed at the following links: https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2016/01/21/health-matters-your-alcohol-treatment-services-toolkit/ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safeguarding-children-affected-by-parental-alcohol-and-drug-use

Hearing Impairment: Merseyside

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the provision of deaf support services (a) to constituents in Wallasey, (b) in Liverpool City Region and (c) in Merseyside.

Caroline Dinenage: The Care Quality Commission is responsible for assessing the quality of health and social care support, including for those who are deaf. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for assessing locally what health services should be commissioned to meet needs; local authorities have duties under the Care Act 2014 for assessing people’s need for social care support. NHS Wirral CCG recently completed a consultation in relation to Urgent Care Services. This consultation had significant representation from members of the deaf community as well as British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters. They spoke of consistent difficulties in accessing local NHS services, more specifically on provision and quality of BSL interpreters; this was not specific to urgent care services but spanned the range of NHS services in Wirral. A subsequent meeting was held with representatives of the deaf community on 21 December 2018 and the CCG agreed to facilitate an engagement process to include providers in 2019 to understand the issues in more detail and plan actions for providers to take forward over the longer term. A further meeting has been arranged for 18 February 2019. This meeting will be attended by members of the deaf community, BSL interpreters and NHS providers in Wirral.

Accident and Emergency Departments: North West

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to achieve the 95 per cent four-hour A&E waiting time in (a) Merseyside and (b) the North West.

Stephen Hammond: The NHS Improvement Emergency Care Intensive Support Team is currently working to provide specialist support to systems across the North West region. Six trusts1 with challenged Emergency Departments routinely reporting ambulance-hospital handover delays are engaging with North West Ambulance Service as part of an initial 90-day improvement programme, which has now been extended further. In addition, eight trusts2 have received Urgent and Emergency Care capital investment this winter to make improvements to accident and emergency. NHS England’s ‘Operational and Planning Guidance for 2019/20’ sets out deliverables against key performance areas and the Government expects the National Health Service to deliver these actions in full as key steps towards fully recovering performance against core access standards. Notes:1Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, East Lancashire Hospital NHS Trust, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust, Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust.2Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust, Wirral University Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, and Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust.

Asthma: North West

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) adults and (b) children were admitted to hospital as a result of asthma in (i) Wirral, (ii) Liverpool City Region and (iii) the North West in each year since 2010.

Steve Brine: A count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary diagnosis of asthma for the age groups 0-17 years and 18 years and over in the Wirral local authority of residence, Liverpool City Region of residence, and North West Government Office Region of residence, for the years 2010-11 to 2017-18, can be found in the attached table. A FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.



PQ218763 attached table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 22.4 KB)

Surgery

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the relative safety of surgical operations carried out in the daytime and overnight.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department has not conducted any comparative assessment centrally concerning the relative safety of surgical operations carried out in the daytime and overnight. Safeguards apply to all surgery and it is the responsibility of the professionals involved to ensure that they operate to the right level of competence, and of the organisations they work for to ensure that they have in place effective forms of oversight at all times.

Pharmacy: Finance

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer 10 January 2019 to Question 205889 on Pharmacy: Finance, for what reasons clawback rates were not included in those figures.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2019 to Question 205889, if his Department will include the clawback rate in the calculations for the average fee per prescription for a pharmacy which (a) dispensed an average mean number of prescription items in 2017-18, (b) dispensed the highest number of prescription items in 2017-18, (c) dispensed the lowest number of prescription items in 2017-18 and (d) is in the bottom quartile of all pharmacies for the number of prescription items it dispensed in 2017-18.

Steve Brine: The answer given to Question 205889 was in relation to fees, which remunerate pharmacy contractors for National Health Service pharmaceutical services, for example dispensing. Clawback, alternatively referred to as the deduction scale, relates to reimbursement, i.e. payment for dispensed products. Therefore it was not included in the figures which were given in the answer to that question, it would be inappropriate to include clawback in the calculations involving fees.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2019 to Question 216353 on sexual health clinicians, what the timeframe is for the publication of the findings of Baroness Harding's work.

Stephen Hammond: Baroness Harding will present initial recommendations to the Department in spring 2019. A final workforce implementation plan will follow later in the year, taking into account the outcomes of the Spending Review.

Social Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timeframe is for his Department's publication of its social care green paper.

Caroline Dinenage: The Social Care Green Paper remains a priority for this Government and we will be publishing a Green Paper setting out proposals for reform at the earliest opportunity.

NHS: Managers

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to publish new standards for NHS leaders.

Stephen Hammond: In 2018, the Government had asked Tom Kark QC to carry out a review of the scope, operation and purpose of the Fit and Proper Person Requirement. The review, which was published on 6 February 2019, made seven recommendations, including to develop specified standards of competence that all directors, who sit on the Board, of any health providing organisation, should meet. The Government accepts this recommendation in principle, and has asked Baroness Dido Harding, the chair of the system-wide Workforce Implementation Steering Group, to look at how best to introduce new standards alongside other proposals on leadership and development of National Health Service managers, which is set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.

Prime Minister

Members: Correspondence

Justin Madders: To ask the Prime Minister, when she plans to respond to the letter of 30 November 2018 from the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston.

Mrs Theresa May: A reply has been sent by the Cabinet Secretary.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2018 to Question 130822 on Universal Credit, how many universal credit claimants have a level of deduction from the standard allowance (a) at the 40 per cent and (b) above the 40 per cent level.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 11 January 2019



Our internal data shows that, of all Universal Credit Full Service awards in September 2018: (a) 7% (60,000 claims) of all Universal Credit Full Service eligible* claims had deductions at 40% of the Standard Allowance. (b) 0.6% (5,000 claims) of Universal Credit Full Service eligible claims had deductions that exceeded the normal 40% maximum deduction rate. These are due to last resort deductions which are only applied to protect claimant welfare by helping prevent disconnection or eviction (for example, service charges, rent, gas or electricity arrears). *Eligible claimants are claimants that have satisfied all the requirements of claiming Universal Credit; they have provided the necessary evidence, signed their claimant commitment and are eligible and have received their first payment. These figures do not include sanctions or fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions. In these cases, a priority order is applied so that deductions for arrears of housing costs or fuel costs are applied first, in order to protect claimant welfare. Volumes are rounded to the nearest 1,000. If a claimant is in financial difficulty as a result of the level of deductions being made they can contact the Department to request that a reduction in deductions be considered. At Autumn Budget 2018 we announced we will reduce the maximum rate at which deductions can be made from a Universal Credit award from 40% to 30% of the standard allowance, from October 2019. Additionally, from October 2021, the recovery period for advances will increase from 12 to 16 months. This will help over 600,000 families to manage their debts at any one point when roll-out is complete, providing them with, on average, £295 extra a year as their debts are repaid over a longer period.

Universal Credit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's claimant service and experience survey 2017 to 2018, what steps her Department is taking to improve universal credit claimant satisfaction rates.

Alok Sharma: The Department’s claimant service and experience survey 2017/18 showed that 80 per cent of claimants are satisfied with Universal Credit. However, the Department is committed to ensuring that we provide the best experience possible for all claimants on Universal Credit, and is continuously learning and adapting to improve the service we offer our claimants. Since this survey concluded in May 2018, we have already introduced a number of improvements, such as: a new approach where established claimants who call the Universal Credit helpline are connected directly to the person or team who are dealing with their case;improving our online system to allow claimants to upload their self-employed earnings, verify their childcare costs and apply for advances;a service for claimants who are not able to interact with us through an online account which can remain in place throughout the claim or for a specific period of time;locally developed plans to ensure that we can support claimants who have more complex needs;delivering Mental Health Training nationally to our Work Coaches and by March 2020 all of our customer facing colleagues across all areas of DWP.

Universal Credit

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will ensure that a range of appointment times are offered to claimants awaiting universal credit assessment appointments.

Alok Sharma: At the start of their Universal Credit claim, not all claimants will require an initial evidence interview. If an interview is required, claimants will receive notification to book an interview via their online Universal Credit account at the start of their claim and are encouraged to make contact at the earliest opportunity. The length of the interview will depend upon the evidence to be confirmed. If the scheduled interview is at an inconvenient time, claimants can contact their Work Coach or Case Manager to rearrange. Jobcentre Team Leaders monitor resource levels as part of their daily planning activities to ensure there are sufficient appointment times available to handle the anticipated volume of interviews. Where a Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is required claimants will receive notification giving details of the date, time and venue of the assessment. If the timing of the appointment is inconvenient claimants can contact the WCA Provider to rearrange. This could include a change to the date, time or venue of the assessment, or to consider a home assessment where it is appropriate.

Personal Independence Payment: Blaenau Gwent

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2019 to Question 204471 on Personal Independence Payment: Blaenau Gwent, what information her Department holds on the (a) number and (b) value of hardship payments made to claimants from Blaenau Gwent while awaiting payment for arrears as a result of a successful Tribunal decision.

Sarah Newton: We aim to pay arrears on overturned cases as soon as we can, providing we have all the required information to do so, for example, up to date claimant bank details. Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is not an income replacement benefit; it can be received in or out of work therefore hardship payments are not made in these circumstances. The Department for Work and Pensions administers a wide range of benefits and allowances for which there are a range of conditions for entitlement. Some of these benefits may be of help, including Universal Credit.

Work Capability Assessment: Slavery

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many survivors of modern slavery making a claim for employment and support allowance have undergone a Work Capability Assessment; and of those claimants, how many were (a) placed in the Support Group, (b) placed in the Work Related Activity Group and (c) found Fit For Work.

Sarah Newton: The information requested is not available, however we have agreed to explore options for improving the process of data collection in collaboration with the SSAC to consider how current practices could be enhanced, and to publish a report on our joint conclusions.  For survivors of modern slavery, the Department for Work and Pensions’ main role is to ensure those who are entitled to support receive it. Where a claimant indicates that they are a victim of crime (including trafficking or modern slavery) and they feel that this will adversely affect their ability to meet the conditions of entitlement to benefits, they are supported by the same Jobcentre Plus adviser or Work Coach for each appointment. As each victim will be affected in a different way, advisers and Work Coaches use their discretion to tailor support based on individual conversations they have had with the claimant. DWP are keen to continue to work closely with the Home Office and other organisations to improve the support available to victims and we have put in place training and awareness raising for front-line staff enabling them to direct victims, at the earliest opportunity, to agencies that are able to support them. Work coaches use discretion to tailor support and offer greater flexibility on work requirements. DWP is sensitive to the challenges faced by victims of this terrible crime. We provide a tailored service that recognises those with complex needs at any point throughout their journey and ensures appropriate support is quickly made available: a fundamental principle in the delivery of Universal Credit (UC). UC continues to support victims of domestic abuse to claim benefits through a range of measures. These include same day advances and signposting to expert third-party support. As it can be difficult for individuals facing domestic abuse to come forward, all work coaches undergo mandatory training in how to support vulnerable claimants including recognising the signs of domestic abuse. By summer 2019, we will have implemented domestic abuse specialists in every Jobcentre to further raise awareness of domestic abuse, and support work coaches.

Universal Credit: Fife

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the roll-out of universal credit in Fife on provision of services for  lone parents and disadvantaged families by (a) local authorities and (b) third sector organisations.

Justin Tomlinson: Holding answer received on 12 February 2019



We have not made an assessment of the effect of the roll-out of universal credit in Fife on provision of services for lone parents and disadvantage families by Local Authorities and third party sector organisations. We are committed to helping parents into work. Childcare is essential in enabling parents to work, although we recognise that this can cause additional financial difficulty.Universal Credit claimants are able to claim up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs, compared to 70% on the legacy system. People with an offer of paid work can also get childcare costs paid a month in advance. On 11 January 2019, Secretary of State Rt. Hon Amber Rudd MP announced measures that will provide increased support for Universal Credit (UC) claimants. This included piloting a more flexible approach to claimants reporting childcare costs, which will allow people to be reimbursed for childcare even when they aren’t able to provide immediate evidence.

Occupational Health: Construction

Martin Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government has made of levels of compliance with health surveillance regulations by the construction industry.

Sarah Newton: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has not specifically assessed the construction industry’s overall level of compliance with health surveillance regulations. HSE focuses its occupational health strategies and interventions at the most significant causes of ill-health to make sure duty holders are adequately managing and controlling health risks at source. Health surveillance is one part of a health risk management system, and HSE’s assessment of duty holders’ health surveillance arrangements will reflect the risks involved, for example, HSE evaluates an applicant’s arrangements for statutory medical examinations as part of asbestos license applications. HSE also works with the wider construction industry to improve the industry’s occupational health performance across Great Britain.

Industrial Diseases: Death

Martin Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people die from occupational diseases by sector each year.

Sarah Newton: There are currently an estimated 13,000 deaths each year linked to past exposures at work, primarily to chemicals and dusts. Approximately 5,000 of these deaths are due to asbestos-related cancers, a further 4,000 due to other occupational cancers and the remainder due to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and other respiratory disease. As these figures are estimated from different sources of epidemiological information it is not possible to break the overall total down by industry sector. However, earlier research commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the burden of occupational cancer estimated that of the 8,000 cancer deaths in 2005, approximately 3,700 were attributed to exposures in the construction industry; 2,200 to exposures in the manufacturing, mining, quarrying, electricity, gas, and water industries; 2,000 to exposures in the service industry, and less than 100 to exposures in agriculture, hunting, fishing and forestry.

Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will place in the Library a copy of the results from the Claimant Service and Experience Survey 2017-18 for (a) live service and (b) full service universal credit claimants.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 12 February 2019



The Claimant Service and Experience Survey 2017-2018 covered both Universal Credit Live Service and Universal Credit Full Service and has been published on Gov.uk. It is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-claimant-service-and-experience-survey-2017-to-2018

Access to Work Programme

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, by how much the cap on Access to Work grants will be uprated for the 2019-20 financial year.

Sarah Newton: This year, the annual limit on individual Access to Work grants will be increased to £59,200. This new limit will be applied to new customers with effect from 1 April. Existing customers will be subject to the new limit when their application is reviewed.

Universal Credit

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of full service universal credit claimants have had their claims stopped each month due to a zero award.

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full service universal credit claimants have had their claims stopped each month due to a zero award.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 12 February 2019



Below are the number/proportion of Universal Credit Full Service claims by the month of closure: Closure MonthNumber of claims closed due to zero awardAs percentage of monthly caseloadSeptember 20189,3001.0%October 201811,8001.1% Notes: Claim closed count rounded to the nearest 100 and the percentages to nearest 0.1%Where the claimant had not confirmed their address prior to the case being closed, it has not been possible to exclude a small number of UC cases from Northern Ireland.

Universal Credit

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons her Department's policy changed from live service universal credit to full service universal credit to end a claim after one month of zero award.

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has conducted an impact assessment on the change in policy from live service universal credit to full service universal credit on the automatic ending of claims after a zero award.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 12 February 2019



In both Live Service and Full Service, if a Universal Credit award is reduced to zero, for example as a result of increased earnings, then the Universal Credit award will end. However, on Live Service if a claimant’s Universal Credit ended because earnings had reduced their award to zero and they subsequently had a change of circumstances that meant Universal Credit would become payable e.g. their earnings dropped, they would return to the same assessment period without having to make a new claim. This is as long as they made contact within 6 months of their previous award ending. On Full Service, if a claimant’s Universal Credit award ended and they met certain conditions, they will also return to the same assessment period, however, they will need to make a new Universal Credit claim within 6 months of their previous award ending. This new claim is quicker and easier than the one they originally made, as they will only have to tell the department about any changes of circumstances which they have experienced since their previous award ended. Claimants who become unemployed in a Full Service area also have to make a new claim within 7 days of their job ending (or have a good reason for not doing so) in order for them to be paid for the whole of the assessment period to which they return. If they do not, they will only receive a payment from the point they made their Universal Credit claim until the end of that assessment period. The changes between Live and Full Service were made for a variety of reasons including: to simplify the process and allow the vast majority of claimants who have short term breaks in entitlement to Universal Credit to return to the same assessment period rather than just those whose Universal Credit had ended because they had entered work;to reduce the possibility of overpayments being made; andto ensure claimants re-engage with conditionality as quickly as possible after their job has ended.An equality analysis was produced for this change.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether Jobcentres provide advice to universal credit applicants who start but do not complete an application; and if she will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2019 to Question 214626 on universal credit, of the 18 per cent of claims for universal credit which were not completed due to non-compliance with the process, what support her Department offered to those applicants (a) during and (b) after the application process.

Alok Sharma: Most people claiming Universal Credit will be able to access and navigate the internet, to make and maintain their Universal Credit account. Our published Universal Credit Claimant Survey found that 98 per cent of claimants did claim online, and the majority of those said they found the claim process overall to be straightforward. Universal Credit has been designed with accessibility in mind and we are committed to providing personalised support for all claimants. Where a claimant requires assistance to complete the initial application process support is available via the Universal Credit helpline, face to face in the Jobcentre or in exceptional circumstances through a home visit. If a claimant needs more intensive or specific support to make their claim, face-to-face and other help is available through our current Universal Support Assisted Digital Service offer, which provides bespoke help, support and skills for claimants to make and maintain their digital account online. Since 2017, Universal Support has been delivered by individual local authorities, funded by grants from DWP. From 1 April 2019 Citizens Advice (England and Wales) and Citizens Advice Scotland will deliver a new “Help to Claim” service to support vulnerable claimants through the process of making a claim to Universal Credit, and managing their money afterwards.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the reasons for refusals of applications for universal credit in the last twelve months.

Alok Sharma: Based on our internal data for August 2018, in total 28 per cent of claims did not complete the process. Of this figure around 9 per cent of claims* were closed due to non-entitlement, for example because of capital or not passing the Habitual Residence Test. The remainder (around 18 per cent**) were closed due to non-compliance with the process, for example failure to sign a Claimant Commitment and failing to provide evidence to support their claim. * due to recent methodological changes in calculating reasons for claims closing the percentages provided here may not match to those provided previously. **percentages do not add up to 28 per cent owing to rounding.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims for universal credit have been refused as a result of the applicant not having a fixed address.

Alok Sharma: A claim to Universal Credit can still be made if a claimant does not have a permanent address, so this would not be a reason for a refusal. Where a claimant does not have sufficient documentary evidence to verify their identity, DWP follows a process known as a biographical security check, whereby the claimant is asked a series of security questions to validate their identity. Should the claimant fail the biographical security check, as an additional safeguard we can approach a third party to validate the claimant’s identity (subject to the claimant giving their consent).

Personal Independence Payment: North West

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the waiting time from registration for personal independence payment to appeal was in (a) Wallasey, (b) Merseyside and (c) the North West in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Sarah Newton: Information on the waiting time from registration of a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim to appeal in Wallasey, Merseyside and the North West could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Independent Case Examiner

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to improve the performance of the Independent Case Examiner.

Justin Tomlinson: During 2017/18, the Independent Case Examiner’s Office received high levels of demand.In the 2018/19 reporting year, the Office received funding for thirteen additional staff and productivity increased. By the end of January 2019 the Office had cleared 1,047 complaints, compared to 782 at the end of January 2018.

Home Office

Counter-terrorism: Finance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the increase in the operational budget for counter-terror policing for 2019-20.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an additional £160m funding for counter-terrorism policing in 2019-20 in the Budget statement on 29th October 2018 (Hansard Vol. 648, Column 657). This takes counter-terrorism police funding for next year to over £800m. The entirety of this £160m additional funding is new money not previously announced or agreed.The effect of this additional investment will be that counter-terrorism police budgets increase by £59m, from £757m in 2018-19 to £816m in 2019-20.CT police funding since 2015-16 is set out in the table below. £m2015-162016-172017-182018-192019-20Baseline budget (as SR 2015)564708707686656Additional investment (since SR)--2871160Total funding564 708  735 757  816

Undocumented Migrants: Kent

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the total number of attempts by persons who were suspected migrants to enter Kent by small boat in (a) October 2018, (b) November 2018, (c) December 2018 and (d) January 2019.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Secretary delivered a statement to Parliament providing the following figures relating to 2018 arrivial.Over 500 migrants - mostly Iranian - attempted to travel to the UK on small vessels in 2018. 80% of them attempted this in the last three months of the year. Around 40% of the attempts were either disrupted by French law enforcement or returned to France via French agencies.

Immigration: Northern Ireland

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what form a proof of being a family carer is acceptable for an EEA National for the purpose of claiming treaty rights for a non-EEA partner in Northern Ireland where there is no provision for local registration.

Caroline Nokes: EEA nationals are exercising EU Treaty rights in the UK if they are in their first three months of residence or if they are working, self-employed, looking for work, self-sufficient or studying, or if they have a right of permanent residence in the UK under EU law.Applications and supporting evidence for EEA residence documentation made by EEA nationals and/or their non-EEA national family members are considered on a case-by-case basis. Home Office guidance setting out how caseworkers consider applications can be found at www.gov.uk/government/collections/eea-swiss-nationals-and-ec-association-agreements-modernised-guidance.

Abu Bakar Ba'asyir

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effect on public safety of the decision to release Abu Bakar Bashir from prison.

Mr Ben Wallace: It is government practice not to comment on individual threat assessments. We are committed to working with our international partners, including the Indonesian Government, to tackle the threat from terrorism. HMG’s assessment of the risks to British nationals traveling overseas including the threat from terrorism is reflected in our Foreign Office Travel Advice.

Crimes of Violence: Acids

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offences involving acid attacks have been committed in (a) London and (b) Havering Borough in each year since 2010.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office does not hold the information requested and does not currently collect data from police forces on acid and other corrosive attacks as part of its regular data collection. It has been estimated from a previous voluntary data collection commissioned by the National Police Chiefs’ Council covering the period October to December 2017 that there are around 800 corrosive attacks per annum in England and Wales.We have been working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council on improving recording and will be collecting data on corrosive attacks as part of the Annual Data Requirement on police forces from April 2019 onwards. Data will be published in the future as part of the Office for National Statistics’ quarterly crime statistics.

Radicalism: Greater London

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offences involving religious extremism have been committed in (a) London and (b) Havering Borough in each year since 2010.

Victoria Atkins: There is no offence or legal definition of religious extremism and therefore this data is not available.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress his Department has made in reviewing the potential effect of the salary threshold for EU citizens after 29 March 2019 on recruitment in the arts sector.

Caroline Nokes: In the event that a deal is reached with the European Union (EU) on withdrawing from the bloc, there will be an implementation period between 29 March 2019 and 31 December 2020 during which nothing will change regarding the ability of EU citizens to come and work in the UK, including those working in the arts sector.If the UK leaves the EU without agreeing a deal, the arrangements for EU citizens arriving in the UK after 29 March 2019, whether for holidays or for short visits, for work or study, of up to three months, will not look any different for a transitional period until the new skills-based immigration system is implemented in 2021. However, to stay longer than three months, EU citizens newly arrived in this transitional period will need to apply for European Temporary Leave to Remain, which, subject to identity and criminality checks, will mean that they can remain here, including to work or study, for a further 36 months.In either scenario, there will be no minimum salary threshold for those coming here to work.

Deportation: Jamaica

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the flight chartered to deport people to Jamaica in February 2019, if he will publish the (a) offences for which those people were deported, (b) date on which when they first arrived in the UK and (c) the age of those people when they first arrived in the UK.

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the flight chartered to deport individuals to Jamaica in February 2019, how many people allocated to that flight had their deportation (a) postponed and (b) cancelled; and what the (i) offences committed by those people, (b) date on which which those people arrived in the UK and (c) age at which those people first arrived in the UK.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not routinely comment on individual case. However, on 6 February 2019, 29 serious foreign criminals were flown to Jamaica on a chartered flight. The crimes committed by the individuals include murder, rape and serious violence. The total combined sentence of their crimes is over 150 years imprisonment.The law requires we seek to deport foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes in the UK. This ensures we keep the public safe.None of the people on the flight were British citizens or members of the Windrush generation, who are exempt under section 7 of the Immigration Act 1971.

Alcoholic Drinks

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) staff (i) were allocated to develop the forthcoming alcohol strategy in (A) 2017 and (B) 2018 and (ii) are currently allocated to developing that strategy and (b) full-time equivalent staff hours have been allocated to that strategy to date.

Victoria Atkins: A new cross-government alcohol strategy, led by the Home Office and the Department for Health and Social Care, was announced in 2018. Since 2017 the Home Office Alcohol Team has ranged from five to seven full time equivalent members of staff at any one time.We are unable to quantify the hours allocated specifically to the strategy as this work has been undertaken as part of wider work on alcohol policy and maintaining an effective licensing regime.

Offences against Children: Rotherham

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much was (a) requested in Special Grant funding by South Yorkshire Police for Operation Stovewood in each year between 2015-16 and 2018-19 and (b) provided in Special Grant funding to South Yorkshire Police for Operation Stovewood in each of those years.

Mr Nick Hurd: Information regarding all Special Grant claims and awards from 2014/15 to 2017/18 has been published on the .gov.uk website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-funding-special-grant-applicationsIn 2018/19 the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner claimed £12 million in funding for Operation Stovewood. The Home Office has, in line with previous years and funding contributions for other major investigations, awarded 85% of the claim (£10.1 million).

Counter-terrorism: Local Government

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support his Department provides to local councils to help with the (a) preparation of anti-terror strategies and (b) installation of anti-terror infrastructure.

Mr Ben Wallace: There is a wide range of high quality advice and guidance available to the owners and operators of crowded places (including public authorities) to en-sure that they are aware of terrorist threats and how to effectively mitigate them. This includes advice from police Counter Terrorism Security Advisers based in every police region, and a range of extensive advice and guidance from the National Counter Terrorism Security Office and the Centre of the Protection of National Infrastructure.It is a matter for the owners and operators of crowded places to consider this advice and to take forward, implement, and if required to fund, appropriate and proportionate security measures. Government resources will be able to provide appropriate guidance to assist councils in taking forward implementation of security measures, for example to provide details of companies who have achieved a benchmark of competence and expertise in a range of security mitigation techniques.

Treasury

Tax Avoidance

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the £650 million that HMRC has collected from employers since 2016 in relation to disguised remuneration schemes has come from (a) PAYE and national insurance contributions on loans made to employees under an employment benefit trust scheme and (b) penalties and fines due to the failure of employers to register those schemes under the disclosure of tax avoidance schemes process.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of employers who paid employees through an employment benefit trust scheme have paid the PAYE contributions deemed due.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Loan Charge 2019, whether employees will be exempt from paying taxes in relation to those loans in cases where employers have paid PAYE on loans given to their employees through an employment benefit trust scheme since 1999.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Loan Charge 2019, whether he has published a list of scheme providers that have paid taxes on loans given to individuals through an employment benefit trust scheme since 1999.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Loan Charge 2019, what safeguards his Department has put in place to prevent double taxation in cases where the taxes now due on employment benefit trust loans have already been collected from scheme providers.

Mel Stride: Disguised Remuneration (DR) schemes are contrived arrangements that pay loans in place of ordinary remuneration with the sole purpose of avoiding income tax and National Insurance contributions. HMRC is working hard to help individuals get out of tax avoidance for good and is encouraging anyone who is concerned about their ability to pay what they owe, to contact them as soon as possible to discuss their position. In November 2017, HMRC set up a dedicated helpline for those wanting to settle their avoidance scheme use, and discuss payment options. HMRC will work with all individuals to reach a manageable and sustainable payment plan wherever possible. Since the announcement of the 2019 loan charge at Budget 2016, HMRC has now agreed settlements on disguised remuneration schemes with employers and individuals totalling over £1 billion. Pay As You Earn (PAYE) liabilities fall on the employer in the first instance. The charge on DR loans does not change this principle and the employee will only be liable where the amount cannot reasonably be collected from the employer, such as where the employer is offshore or no longer exists. Around 85% of the settlement yield since 2016 is from employers, with less than 15% from individuals. HMRC has also introduced a simplified process for those who choose to settle their use of DR avoidance schemes before the loan charge arises. DR scheme users who currently have an income of less than £50,000 and are no longer engaging in tax avoidance can automatically agree a payment plan of up to five years without the need to give HMRC any information about their income and assets. This arrangement has been extended to 7 years for scheme users who have an income of less than £30,000. Those who consider they need more than five (or seven) years to pay what they owe or who earn £50,000 or more should still come forward and talk to HMRC about payment terms. There are no defined minimum or maximum time periods for payment arrangements and HMRC can tailor any payment plan to their individual financial circumstances. The Government has introduced comprehensive double taxation provisions to ensure that no individual will pay income tax twice on the same income. More information is included in the DR Technical Note published by HMRC on 5 December 2016. Where employers have paid the income tax and NICs due on loans made through these schemes, the individual will not be liable to the loan charge. Information on the proportion of employers who paid their employees through an Employer Benefit Trust (EBT) arrangements and have paid the PAYE and NICs due is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. A list of scheme providers that have paid taxes on loans given to individuals through an EBT scheme cannot be released because of HMRC’s duty of confidentiality.

Iron and Steel: Research

Nic Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has made to support the Steel Industry once it loses access to the Research Fund for Coal and Steel as part of the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Elizabeth Truss: If the UK leaves with a withdrawal agreement, we will continue to participate in EU programmes, including the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, during the implementation period. In the event the UK leaves the EU without an overall withdrawal agreement, the Government will guarantee the payment of awards for UK organisations which successfully bid directly to EU programmes, until the end of 2020, for the whole lifetime of projects agreed. This includes where a project continues beyond the end of 2020. The Government is continuing to work with the steel sector, unions and Devolved Administrations to develop a long-term viable solution for the UK steel industry.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Internet: Safety

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of recent strategies put forth by technology companies in relation to online safety.

Margot James: While we have seen some success with voluntary measures to improve online safety, Government has been clear that tech companies need to take more consistent and effective action to tackle online harms.A joint DCMS-Home Office White Paper will be published shortly, setting out clear responsibilities for tech companies to keep their users safe online.

Cultural Heritage: Urban Areas

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what funding his Department allocates for the restoration of historical (a) retail and (b) hospitality outlets on high streets.

Michael Ellis: In the October 2018 Budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that up to £55 million additional funding would be made available for restoring historic high streets to boost retail and bring properties back into productive uses. This was part of the wider £675 million ‘Future High Streets Fund’. Additionally, there are also other grant schemes available through Historic England (HE). The total funding available across the applicable HE schemes is approximately £11 to £12 million per annum and includes initiatives such as the Partnership Schemes in Conservation Areas, under which HE has provided £4m between 2013/14 to 2018/19 to shops and hospitality outlets in designated conservation areas.

Employment: Exercise

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation, published in December 2015, what progress his Department has made on establishing a network of employers that will bring together organisations keen to support and encourage their staff to be more physically active.

Mims Davies: We are working with Department of Health and Social Care, Department for Work and Pensions, Public Health England, the Health and Safety Executive and Sport England to explore the best way of engaging with employers of all sizes on improving health at work, including the promotion of physical activity. We are planning to meet with employers shortly to discuss this in more detail.

Mobile Phones: British Nationals Abroad

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to work with mobile phone network providers to help minimise disruption to those networks for British customers in the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Margot James: The availability and pricing of mobile roaming in the EU would be a commercial question for the mobile operators. DCMS engages extensively with mobile operators on the topic of roaming and welcomes the fact that some mobile operators have already said they have no current plans to change their approach to mobile roaming after the UK leaves the EU.

Uber

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether (a) he, (b) ministers of his Department and (c) officials of his Department have met representatives of Uber in the last two years.

Margot James: The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport regularly meets with a number of stakeholders to discuss a range of issues which the department is responsible for. DCMS Secretary of State and Ministers have met with UBER on a number of occasions in the last two years, and officials from DCMS were present at the meetings. Details of Ministers' meetings with external organisations are published routinely and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications on Gov.uk.

Technology: New Businesses

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to support tech start-ups.

Margot James: We are confident the digital technology sector and its start-up community will continue to grow from strength to strength. As outlined in our Digital Strategy and Charter, our ambition is to ensure the UK is the best place in the world to start and grow a digital business. A significant part of achieving this is ensuring the wider ecosystem has the correct infrastructure for businesses to thrive. That is why the Industrial Strategy included commitments to boost spending on 5G digital connectivity right across the UK, raising investment in research and development, and improving skills by investing in maths, digital and technical education. DCMS’ Cyber Security team also supports and delivers programmes that accelerate and innovate cyber start-ups, including the NCSC Cyber Accelerator programme, and through the LORCA project - a vital step to ensure citizens and businesses can continue to operate safely online, whilst supporting UK entrepreneurs. We know primary barriers to growth for start-ups are having adequate access to both finance and talent. That is why for finance, Government announced a new £2.5 billion British Patient Capital programme. This is expected to attract a further £5 billion in private investment, to support UK companies with high growth potential to access the long-term investment they need to grow and go global. In addition, if in the event that the Government cannot agree on a future relationship with the European Investment Bank prior to EU Exit, we will provide the British Business Bank with £200m of additional funding in venture capital and growth finance. This will provide start-ups across the country with the initial capital they need to start their business. To continue to attract international talent, we have doubled the number of Tier 1 Exceptional Talent visas to 2,000. Doctors and nurses have been taken out of the Tier 2 visa cap, freeing up many more skilled worker visas to other sectors, including tech. 2019 will also see the launch of a new Start-Up visa for entrepreneurs, which will replace a route exclusively for graduates, opening it up to other talented business founders. In the Autumn Budget 2017 we announced investment of £21 million to expand Tech City UK into a nationwide network – Tech Nation – aimed at accelerating the growth of the digital tech sector across the country. The funding will help Tech Nation support 40,000 entrepreneurs and up to 4,000 start-ups as they scale their businesses across the UK including Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Newcastle.

Digital Broadcasting: Radio

Mr Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to lay the statutory instrument required for the licensing of small-scale DAB radio.

Margot James: The small scale DAB licensing consultation closed on 28 February 2018 and the government response was published on 13 October 2018. We are working with Ofcom to develop the details of the new legislative framework and we intend to bring the Order forward later this year when Parliamentary time allows.

Commonwealth Games 2022

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2019 to Question 216387 on Commonwealth Games 2022, whether he held discussions with the Prime Minister in advance of the appointment of the Non-Executive Directors roles.

Mims Davies: I refer the Hon member to my response to PQ 216387 on 7th February.

Lebedev Holdings

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department holds on the identity of the new part-owner of the Evening Standard's parent company, Lebedev Holdings.

Jeremy Wright: Neither I nor my Department has had any contact from Lebedev Holding Ltd or its representatives about the transaction. While the Secretary of State has powers under the Enterprise Act 2002 to intervene in certain media mergers raising public interest concerns, there is no requirement under the Enterprise Act 2002 for parties to advise us of the transaction.My officials will contact Lebedev Holdings Ltd about the transaction, and to obtain further information to determine whether there has been a change of control which would give rise to a merger falling within the jurisdiction of the 2002 Act. However, writing to the party does not necessarily indicate that any transaction raises any public interest concerns.These decisions are always made in a quasi judicial capacity by the Secretary of State.

BBC: Royal Charters

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish the names of the lead negotiators for the BBC during the last BBC charter renewal process.

Jeremy Wright: The Chair of the former BBC Trust and the BBC Director-General were responsible for engaging with government during Charter Review 2015-16.

MMR Vaccine

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the role of social and traditional media in the decline in levels of uptake of the MMR vaccination.

Margot James: The Government takes all attempts to deliberately disrupt and confuse the information environment very seriously. It is difficult to attribute the slight decline in uptake of the MMR vaccinations to any one source, however, we will work with our colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England to assess the impact that disinformation and manipulation of social and traditional media may have on this issue.

Artificial Intelligence

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the use of artificial intelligence complies with equalities legislation.

Margot James: While we have seen some success with voluntary measures to improve online safety, Government has been clear that tech companies need to take more consistent and effective action to tackle online harms. A joint DCMS-Home Office White Paper will be published shortly, setting out clear responsibilities for tech companies to keep their users safe online.

Brexit: Festivals and Special Occasions

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he (a) has received applications for funding and (b) plans to make funding available for communities to hold (i) events and (ii) street parties to mark the UK leaving the EU.

Michael Ellis: There are no plans to make funding available for such events.

Social Media: Standards

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on what date he plans to take steps to introduce legal responsibilities for social media companies in relation to harmful content in the event that those companies do not take voluntary action.

Margot James: A joint DCMS-Home Office White Paper will be published shortly, setting out a range of legislative and non-legislative measures to tackle online harms, including clear responsibilities for tech companies to keep their users safe online.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Fossil Fuels: North West

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether a decision has been made by the Oil and Gas Authority in relation to Petroleum Oil and Gas Licence (PEDL) 193 to move that PEDL into the Production Term on 1 July 2019.

Claire Perry: The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) are responsible for granting and monitoring all onshore Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences (PEDLs). For PEDL193, the OGA last year agreed to a Retention Area Work Plan under which the licensee(s) are obliged to acquire new seismic data by 30 June 2020, submit a planning application to drill a well by 30 June 2022, and drill, hydraulically fracture and flow test a well by 30 June 2024. Details of this licence variation can be found on the OGA website via the following link: https://www.ogauthority.co.uk/media/5260/retention-areas-agreed-december-2018-updated.pdf.

Electricity: Finance

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with the EU Commission on the European Court of Justice ruling in November 2018 to suspend the UK's Capacity Market.

Claire Perry: The Commission has confirmed that it will be conducting an investigation into the original State aid notification for the Capacity Market, and the UK government is working with the Commission to ensure they have everything necessary to re-consider the case for approval of the CM scheme as quickly as possible. The Commission envisages issuing an Opening Decision to open the formal investigation in early 2019.

Electricity: Finance

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is his policy to reinstate payments under the Capacity Market for Autumn 2019.

Claire Perry: The Commission has confirmed that it will be conducting an investigation into the original State aid notification for the Capacity Market. This investigation will include Capacity Market agreements already entered into, including those for 2019/20. A positive final State aid decision would allow payments to be made to these agreement holders. The Government has also confirmed its intention to hold a T-1 top-up auction during the summer of 2019, for delivery in 2019/20. Payments under these agreements will also be conditional on the outcome of the Commission’s formal investigation.

Electricity: Finance

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether retrospective payments will be paid to generators in the event that the Capacity Market is reinstated.

Claire Perry: The Commission has confirmed that it will be conducting an investigation into the original State aid notification for the Capacity Market. This investigation will include Capacity Market agreements already entered into, including those for 2018/19 and 2019/20. A positive final State aid decision would allow payments to be made to those agreement holders that have met their obligations during the standstill period.

Solar Power

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Department has taken to ensure that solar power is able to compete on a level playing field with other energy generation technologies.

Claire Perry: Solar is a UK success story. Since 2010, solar capacity deployed has accounted for 81% of total capacity deployed under the Feed-in Tariffs scheme.We issued a consultation on new proposals for a Smart Export Guarantee to support future arrangements for small-scale low-carbon generators to receive payment for the electricity they export to the grid. The consultation closes on the 5th March 2019 and can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-for-small-scale-low-carbon-generation.

Power Stations: Closures

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many electricity generation plants have (a) closed and (b) ceased operation since 15 November 2018.

Claire Perry: The UK Government is committed to delivering secure electricity supplies at least cost to energy consumers. The current standstill imposed on the Capacity Market does not change this commitment or our belief that Capacity Market auctions are the most appropriate way to do this. No transmission connected electricity generation plants have closed or ceased operation since the 15 November 2018.

EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress he has made in setting up a mirror system that is linked to the EU Emissions Trading System.

Claire Perry: The Political Declaration sets out that the UK and the EU have agreed to consider cooperating on carbon pricing through linking a UK national greenhouse gas emissions trading system with the EU Emissions Trading System. The details of these arrangements will be a matter for the next phase of the negotiations. The Government will consult in due course on carbon pricing, including options to implement such a linked emissions trading system.

Research: Science

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has plans to increase the level of funding allocated to science research after the UK leaves the EU.

Chris Skidmore: Through our modern Industrial Strategy we have committed to the highest R&D increase on record. We have announced increases in public R&D spending worth £7bn up to 2021/2022, and we are working with UK Research and Innovation and other key partners to develop a roadmap that sets out how government and industry will work together to reach our target of increasing R&D investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027 and 3% in the longer-term.

Solar Power

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to promote the use of solar energy.

Claire Perry: Solar PV is a UK success story, with rapid deployment over the last 8 years. Over 99% of the UK’s solar PV capacity has been deployed since May 2010. We are now consulting on new proposals for a Smart Export Guarantee to support future arrangements for small-scale low-carbon generators (including solar power generators) to receive payment for the electricity they export to the grid. The consultation closes on the 5th March 2019 and can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-for-small-scale-low-carbon-generation.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Fire and Rescue Services

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department took to ensure that there was no conflict of interest between Sir Ken Knight's role as (a) Chief Fire Officer and (b) a trustee of the Building Research Establishment's charitable parent company, the BRE Trust.

Kit Malthouse: The Department carried out all appropriate due diligence when it appointed Sir Ken Knight as Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser in 2007. Sir Ken took up an unpaid role as a Trustee with the Building Research Establishment (a charitable trust) in 2011 and would have been required to notify the Department of any such appointment. Due to the passage of time there are no extant records that confirm this action was undertaken.

Right to Buy Scheme

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the (a) mean, (b) median, (c) 10th percentile and (d) 25th percentile period between the date of a purchase of a social housing unit under Right to Buy and the date that that property has been let within the private rental sector, using a representative sample of housing units meeting these conditions, for each of the last 10 years for each region in England.

Kit Malthouse: I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 13 February to question UIN 217033.

Right to Buy Scheme

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of a statutory waiting time between the date when a social housing unit is purchased under Right to Buy and when that unit may be lawfully offered for private let.

Kit Malthouse: The Government does not impose restrictions on the letting of homes purchased under the Right to Buy. It believes that tenants who have bought their homes under the Right to Buy should have the same freedoms as any other homeowner. Imposing restrictions on the letting of their homes could limit their ability to move for work or family reasons and we do not think this would be reasonable or fair.The Department regularly publishes information on the number of Right to Buy sales, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-social-housing-sales.However, the Department does not monitor what individuals do with their homes after they have bought them. To provide figures for this would be burdensome on central government, local authorities and buyers. It would place a burden on buyers of Right to Buy homes (including second-hand buyers further down the line) to register their purchase of such a home – and whether it was to be their main home – with their local authority, and require enforcement by the local authority in order to be reliable. Such a burden would be contrary to the policy intention of Right to Buy, which is to provide a way for council tenants to access all the benefits of home ownership enjoyed by other homeowners.

Housing: Rural Areas

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage local authorities to carry out housing needs assessments in villages that have not been allocated housing within local plans, but where there is likely to be a local need for housing.

Kit Malthouse: Local authorities should identify needs throughout their area, which should inform their spatial strategy and housing numbers for areas engaged in neighbourhood planning. Neighbourhood planning groups may wish to collect additional evidence about the nature of the need in their areas, to inform any housing policies that they wish to develop.Through Neighbourhood Planning we are empowering and supporting local communities to bring forward neighbourhood plans which allocate their own housing sites and have so far committed over £26 million to support these activities.Where any rural exception sites are proposed by applicants, they should be informed by clear evidence of a local need for affordable homes.

Housing: Construction

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to promote housing development in areas where there is an identified local need but no housing allocation in the local plan.

Kit Malthouse: The revised National Planning Policy Framework is clear that all housing need should be provided for. There are multiple tools in the revised Framework that can assist in delivering the homes areas need, including; through allocations in local plans, community led allocations in neighbourhood plans, windfall development and exception sites which target affordable housing need specifically.

Local Government: Broadband

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities use access to broadband and mobile connectivity as a criterion within their settlement hierarchy assessments.

Kit Malthouse: The Department does not collect data on how many local authorities use access to broadband and mobile connectivity as a criterion within their settlement hierarchy assessments. Authorities should gather and draw on appropriate evidence to inform the preparation of development plans and the National Planning Policy Framework sets out how planning policies and decisions should support the expansion and delivery of electronic communications networks.

Non-domestic Rates

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking in conjunction with local authorities to ensure that eligible businesses benefit from the forthcoming reduction in business rates as soon as that reduction comes into force.

Rishi Sunak: The Government is working closely with local authorities to implement the retail discount announced at the Budget. In November the Department issued guidance to local authorities and will be providing new burdens funding to meet the costs of implementation. MHCLG will shortly be writing to authorities to remind them of the need to grant the relief to eligible businesses from April 2019 and to do all they can to ensure that businesses are aware of the support available.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department request from the owners of the 6,000 high-rise buildings in relation to the data collection for his Department's building safe programme: data release series.

Kit Malthouse: The Department started to request information on high-rise residential buildings from local authorities and building owners shortly after the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Data collected included building names, addresses, whether a building was over 18 metres in height, and whether the building had Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding. For buildings with ACM cladding, further information has been collected on remediation, including tracking the progress of remediation for these buildings. Data are published online via this link.

Buildings: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's paper entitled, Building Safety Programme: Monthly Data Release, published on 7 February 2019, on what dates the (a) 79 social sector and (b) 19 private sector buildings started remediation.

Kit Malthouse: As of 31 January 2019, remediation works had started on 79 social sector and 19 private sector residential buildings, with 40 social and 33 privately-owned buildings having completed remediation (including sign off from building control where necessary).The table below summarises when remediation started for the 98 social and private sector residential buildings marked as remediation started but not yet completed as at 31 January 2019.The remediation of buildings with Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations is a complex process. Remediation work involves addressing any issues with the exterior cladding system and broader fire safety systems for each building. All of this work takes time and varies considerably depending on the building structure, extent of cladding, and existing fire safety systems. For many buildings this is a complex job involving major construction work which needs to be planned, consulted on and carried out carefully.  Start dates for ACM cladding remediation worksPrivate sector buildings*Social residential buildingsTo Sep 2017030Oct – Dec 2017020Jan – Mar 201839Apr – Jun 201803Jul – Sep 2018911Oct – Dec 201853[January 2019]10Start date not available13Total1979*Includes private residential buildings, student accommodation and hotels.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 24 January 2019 to Question 210701 on High Rise Flats: Insulation, how many local authorities have (a) contacted his Department with concerns about their ability to meet the decent homes standard in social housing blocks requiring remediation and (b) have been offered support from Government to maintain efficient heating and insulation.

Kit Malthouse: Government is providing funding for the remediation of social residential buildings over 18 metres, owned by local authorities and housing associations. We are providing this funding because we want to make sure that local authorities and housing associations can focus their efforts on making their buildings safe without impacting negatively on other services, improvements to housing quality or new supply. This might include meeting the decent homes standard. 159 applications were received by 31 August deadline and assessed as part of the first tranche of applications, with funding allocated to 135 buildings. We expect to confirm the outcome of the remaining applications shortly.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's Building Safety Programme: Data Release published on 7 February 2019, what estimate his Department has made of the time required  to complete remedial works for the remaining 361 high-rise residential and public buildings.

Kit Malthouse: Remediation of buildings with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material cladding systems is a complex process and remediation work involves addressing any issues with the exterior cladding system and broader fire safety systems for each building. For these reasons it is not possible to predict when remediation will be fully completed.As set out in the most recent the data release 73 buildings have been fully remediated. Remediation work has started on further 98 buildings. Remediation plans are in place for 166 buildings. There are 38 buildings intending to remediate, and remediation plans remain unclear for 50 buildings. There are a further 9 publicly owned buildings comprising health buildings and a school which require remediation.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's Building Safety Programme: Monthly Data Release for January 2019,  for what reason that data release does not include a table showing how many non-ACM samples were held at the Building Research Establishment.

Kit Malthouse: The number of samples confirmed as non-Aluminium Composite Material materials are included in ‘Table 4: samples received by Building Research Establishment for testing – 31 January 2019’, published alongside the Monthly Data Release. The Table is available here.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of the 6,000 private sector high rise buildings where data was collected from to inform his Department's Building Safety Programme were (a) residential, (b) commercial and (c) for another use.

Kit Malthouse: The scope of MHCLG’s Building Safety Programme is high-rise residential buildings. This includes private and social residential buildings, along with hotels, student accommodation, and public buildings (comprising health buildings and schools). Some of these buildings will be mixed use, comprising elements of commercial and other use, but buildings solely used for these purposes are out of scope of the Building Safety Programme.The focus of our work is on ensuring that all high-rise residential buildings with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material cladding are remediated as quickly as possible. These buildings are where the risk to life from fire is greatest. High-rise buildings used for other purposes have different evacuation strategies and the risks are lower.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: ICT

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to increase the cyber skill capability of the armed forces.

Mark Lancaster: Cyber is becoming an essential part of core military training. A dedicated state-of-the-art Defence Cyber School has opened at the Defence Academy, to deliver a centre of excellence for cyber training and exercising for defence and wider government. The Defence Cyber School is approaching its first anniversary and has already trained specialist cyber military and civilian personnel, primarily from the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Its capacity will increase in 2019 and again in 2020. A foundation training pathway is being implemented in 2019 which provides a recognised route to train personnel to pre-determined, internationally recognised cyber standards, providing the core skills to work in a range of key cyber roles across Defence. The Defence Cyber School also has a synthetic training capability which supports the core skills taught in the classroom. This capability is available government wide and allows those in a Cyber specialist role to train flexibly away from the classroom and to maintain their skills to combat skill fade in this rapidly developing domain. From a wider cross-Government civil perspective, Cabinet Office are leading on the development of a Government Security Profession and are working in partnership with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and all Government Departments to deliver a capability framework for cyber security professionals. The MOD is heavily engaged in this, with initial focus being on strengthening risk management and security architecture. The Cyber Security capability framework is planned for release in June 2019.

Ascension Island: Airports

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to ask the US Air Force to speed up repairs of the runway on Ascension Island.

Mark Lancaster: Ministry of Defence officials are working closely with the US Air Force to ensure the effective delivery of a full runway resurface on Ascension Island. The isolated and remote location of Ascension Island creates a number of logistical challenges for such a large scale infrastructure project, but I am confident the project will be delivered in a timely manner and to the highest of standards.

Ascension Island and St Helena: Airports

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department is making on improving communications with the Department for International Development on matters relating to the British Overseas Territories of St Helena and Ascension Island airports.

Mark Lancaster: Cross-Government working is the norm and there is regular engagement between Departments on the British Overseas Territories.

Defence: Procurement

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Government is taking steps to ensure that EU companies will no longer have an automatic right to bid on defence and security contracts after the 29 March 2019 in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Stuart Andrew: In the event of 'no deal', the Defence and Security Public Contract Regulations 2011 will be amended to provide a legal right of market access for suppliers based in the UK and Gibraltar only. After 29 March, EU suppliers will be allowed to bid for defence and security contracts on the same basis as suppliers outside the EU.

Navy

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the size of the Royal Navy fleet (a) was in 2013 and (b) is in 2019.

Stuart Andrew: The following tables list in service Naval vessels as at 23 January 2013 and 1 January 2019. Naval Vessels in Service as at 23 January 2013   Landing Platform Helicopter2Landing Platform Dock2Type 45 Destroyer4Type 42 Destroyer1Type 23 Frigate13Hunt Class Mine Counter Measure Vessel8Sandown Class Mine Counter Measure Vessel7Offshore Patrol Vessel - River Class3Offshore Patrol Vessel - Helicopters1Inshore Patrol Boat18Ocean Survey Vessel1Coastal Survey Vessel2Inshore Survey Vessel/Survey Motor Launch1Ice Patrol Ship1Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear4Ship Submersible Nuclear Trafalgar Class5Ship Submersible Nuclear Astute Class1Fleet Tanker2Support Tanker1Small Fleet Tanker2Fleet Replenishment Ship3Landing Ship Dock3Aviation Training Ship1Forward Repair Ship1TOTAL87 Naval Vessels in Service as at 1 January 2019   Aircraft Carrier1Landing Platform Dock2Type 45 Destroyer6Type 23 Frigate13Hunt Class Mine Counter Measure Vessel6Sandown Class Mine Counter Measure Vessel7Offshore Patrol Vessel - River Class2Offshore Patrol Vessel - Helicopters1Inshore Patrol Boat18Ocean Survey Vessel1Coastal Survey Vessel2Inshore Survey Vessel/Survey Motor Launch1Ice Patrol Ship1Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear4Ship Submersible Nuclear Trafalgar Class3Ship Submersible Nuclear Astute Class3Fleet Tanker4Fleet Replenishment Ship3Landing Ship Dock3Primary Casualty Receiving Ship/Aviation Training Ship1TOTAL82 The Government has pledged to increase our maritime power to project the UK's influence across the world and promote our national prosperity. On current plans, over the next decade we will spend £64.1 billion on procurement and support of ships and submarines. The Royal Navy will have a second aircraft carrier, HMS PRINCE OF WALES, as well as new Type 26 Frigates and at least five Type 31e Frigates that will allow us to increase our fleet by the 2030s. There will also be new support ships and tankers, and we have announced that we are retaining the Batch 1 Offshore Patrol Vessels while the new Batch 2 ships come into service, all of which we expect to have by the end of 2020. On 11 February 2019, the Secretary of State for Defence announced that the Ministry of Defence would be investing in an accelerated Concept and Development Phase for Littoral Strike Ships. These ships will maintain the UK’s ability to deliver cutting edge hard power across the globe.

Navy: South China Sea

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Government is taking to increase the (a) number and (b) frequency of Royal Navy exercises in the South China Sea.

Mark Lancaster: The UK has enduring interests in the region and is committed to maintaining regional peace, prosperity and security, and upholding the Rules Based International System. Royal Navy vessels will therefore continue to regularly operate, navigate and exercise within the South China Sea, including with regional allies and partners. Furthermore, the UK is committed to asserting rights of freedom of navigation and overflight across the globe.In 2018 HMS Sutherland, HMS Albion and HMS Argyll deployed to the Asia Pacific to provide a near-persistent presence in support of regional security as well as the enforcement of United Nations Security Council (UNSCR) sanctions on North Korea's illegal weapons programmes. HMS Montrose is currently in the region and will shortly undertake further support to UNSCR sanctions enforcement and a range of regional engagements.

Gurkhas: Recruitment

Leo Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to recruit more Gurkhas into the British Army; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: Gurkhas continue to make an outstanding contribution to the UK through their service in the British Army and are rightly held in high esteem. Gurkhas are recruited on an annual basis, based on the requirements set by the Brigade of Gurkhas, and we plan to continue annual recruiting on an enduring basis.

European Fighter Aircraft and Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft: Weapons

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timetable is for the Typhoon and F-35 to deliver the full spectrum of weapons capabilities currently provided by Tornado; and what plans he has to fill the capability gap in the meantime.

Stuart Andrew: There will be no capability gap when Tornado retires from service in March 2019. The timetable to deliver the full spectrum of weapons capabilities currently provided by Tornado to other platforms was completed on time and on budget in 2018.

Defence: Imports

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the findings of the IHS Markit report published on 6 February, that the UK will become a net defence importer by 2024 and the fifth largest global market for defence imports.

Stuart Andrew: We are committed to creating the right conditions for a thriving UK defence industry and our refreshed Defence Industrial Policy outlines steps to help UK industry grow and compete, while affirming the UK's commitment to open competition and free, fair and responsible trade.The Ministry of Defence (MOD) works closely with industry to identify new opportunities to export and support both national capability and the UK Prosperity Agenda. Open competition remains our default procurement approach as we seek to source the best capability for our Armed Forces. Nonetheless, even where MOD does acquire defence equipment from overseas at significant value for money to the taxpayer, this often provides important benefit in terms of domestic partnership to UK industry.

Army: Recruitment

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2019 to Question 205364 on Army: Recruitment, when he plans to place a copy of the Capita brief in the Library.

Mark Lancaster: A copy of the brief has been placed in the Library of the House, with a small number of redactions for commercial reasons. I attach a copy to this response for your convenience.



Campaign Brief 2019-20
(PDF Document, 535.45 KB)

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2019 to Question 216198 on Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft, how many of the F-35B fleet do not meet the 8,000 hour service life requirement; and when the modifications of the early contract F-35B are planned to be completed.

Stuart Andrew: A full testing programme for the F-35B is being developed by the Joint Programme Office, which will see all aircraft modified to bring them up to at least the 8,000 hour life and possibly beyond. Future aircraft and those in production will incorporate any relevant design changes as the programme progresses.

Navy: Shipping

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of Royal Navy ships in service were built in the UK.

Stuart Andrew: Of the 61 Royal Navy ships presently in service 59 (96.7%) were built in the UK.

Armed Forces: Mental Health

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support the mental health of new recruits in the armed forces.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence is absolutely committed to the mental health of all Service personnel. Maintaining good mental health, and providing treatment when required, is fundamental to maintaining a fit, healthy, and effective military force. Our operating model, as set out in the 2017 Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, focuses on the four main strands of Promote, Prevent, Detect and Treat.Recruits are entitled to the same primary and specialist mental healthcare as their trained counterparts, and initial training includes sessions on stress management, including how to recognise the early signs of a problem, and where to obtain help. A key issue is tackling the perceived stigma around mental health, and this is reinforced by training in programs such as Mental Health First Aid and Trauma Risk Management (TRiM).For personnel who do need treatment, we can provide a wide range of psychiatric and psychological treatments. The backbone of this care is formed by our 11 military Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs) across the UK, plus a network of six satellite mental health teams and a range of visiting clinics, all of which support the provision of healthcare that is available through Service primary care facilities.Last year, the Secretary of State for Defence announced an additional £2million of annual funding for military mental health services, on top of the £20million a year already spent. Nationally, staffing in DCMHs has increased by 12 posts, and we are working with our in-patient hospital provider (Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust) to provide additional access to treatment through an outpatient psychotherapy service.

Libya: Al Qaeda

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the strength of al-Qaeda in Libya; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence does not routinely assess the strength of al-Qaeda in Libya; al-Qaeda has suffered losses and is not the dominant security threat in Libya, although it has long maintained a presence in The South of Libya. The ongoing instability has provided greater freedom of movement, as a result, al-Qaeda has been able to plan and co-ordinate activity that aims to destabilise the local region.

Scotland Office

Food Banks: Scotland

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he plans to visit a food bank in March 2019.

David Mundell: I currently have no plans to visit a food bank in my capacity as Secretary of State for Scotland in March 2019.

Women and Equalities

Castes: Discrimination

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to her Written Statement of 23 July 2018 on Government Response to Caste Consultation, HCWS898, if she will ensure that (a) the Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance and (b) other non-Government organisations working with victims of caste-based discrimination are able to comment on and input into that draft guidance.

Victoria Atkins: The Government Equalities Office will engage with a range of organisations involved in the issue of caste and the Equality Act 2010, before the guidance is published.

Castes: Discrimination

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to her Written Statement of 23 July 2018 on Government Response to Caste Consultation, HCWS898, whether the guidance for employers, service providers and public authorities will be statutory guidance linked to the relevant sections of the Equality Act 2010.

Victoria Atkins: We intend to issue non-statutory guidance.

Transphobia: LGBT People

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of intimidation carried out by some LGBT activists towards those who refuse to identify transgender individuals by their preferred pronouns.

Victoria Atkins: The Government is aware that the debate around transgender rights and Gender Recognition Act reform can often be a sensitive one, and one in which different people may legitimately hold different views. These differences of opinion can and should be discussed in a mature and respectful manner. Where that has not been the case, the Government would urge those on all sides to treat each other with more respect. The Government would strongly condemn abuse or intimidation, from whichever side of the debate it comes.

Department for Transport

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people in Northern Ireland have applied for a green card as proof of insurance in order to be able to drive in the EU in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many applications the Government has received for the green card proof of insurance that is required in order to be able drive in the EU in the event of the leaving the EU without a deal.

Chris Grayling: The Department for Transport does not have the statistics for the number of Green cards requested and issued to date. This is because the Government is not responsible for issuing Green Cards. They are issued directly by companies that provide vehicle insurance to their policy holders. Motorists in the UK should contact their vehicle insurer who will be able to provide them with advice on their Insurance Green Card requirements and issue them with the relevant documentation. The advice from the Association of British Insurers is that motorists should contact their insurers a month before they plan on travelling.

Network Rail and South Western Railway: Standards

Paul Scully: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been on the implementation of the recommendations from Sir Michael Holden's review into the performance of South Western Railway and Network Rail.

Andrew Jones: We are monitoring progress and working closely with Network Rail (NR) and South Western Railway (SWR) to see these recommendations implemented as soon as possible. SWR and NR have implemented several actions already, such as redefining SWR’s performance meeting structure and SWR and NR’s review of their contingency plans. There are also 10 actions ready for review for completion, and further actions to implement recommendations are now in the delivery phase. Sir Michael is due to return to SWR next month to review progress.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which categories of motorised vehicles are exempt from a requirement to hold third party public liability insurance.

Jesse Norman: In the UK no categories of motor vehicles are exempt but there are a very limited number of exemptions for certain organisations from the requirement to hold third party motor insurance. These are set out in s144 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. In Northern Ireland the equivalent legislation is Article 90 of the Road Traffic Order 1981. Even though these organisations do not require motor insurance they must still have in place measures to ensure that victims of accidents caused by such vehicles are fully compensated for their injuries or losses.

Rolling Stock: Procurement

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2018 to Question 208286 on Rolling Stock: Procurement, what discussions his Department has had with (a) Transport Scotland, (b) Transport for Wales and (c) other devolved transport authorities to ensure a sensible cascade of rolling stock in the event of a delay to the delivery of new trains.

Andrew Jones: Operators work together to mitigate against delays in delivery of new trains to ensure that the impacts on passengers are minimised. The Department has discussions with other Franchising Authorities and devolved administrations to facilitate the contractual requirements of these mitigations, where necessary.

London Airports: Public Transport

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the report entitled, Way to go: improving public transport access to London’s airports, published by London Travel Watch on 18 January 2019, what estimate he has made of the number of people using public transport to reach London airports.

Jesse Norman: The proportion of air passengers using public transport to reach London airports can be estimated from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Departing Passenger Survey, which includes questions on a passenger’s mode of transport to the airport. Estimates using this data suggest that, in 2017, 56.4m passengers used public transport to travel to and from London airports. The Department for Transport expects airport operators to establish targets that increase public transport usage as part of their Surface Access Strategies. The Aviation Strategy 2050 consultation paper proposes a range of measures that aim to support airports in achieving their mode share ambitions, including uprating Airport Transport Forums so that local and central Government, airports, and transport providers have the opportunity to contribute appropriately to the delivery and monitoring of airports mode share and environmental targets.

Railways: North of England

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Pacer trains will continue in service on the northern rail network after December 2019.

Andrew Jones: I am pleased to say that Northern will oversee the complete removal of the outdated and unpopular Pacers by the end of 2019. All the rolling stock used by Northern will either be new or fully refurbished to an ‘as new’ condition.

Rolling Stock

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has plans to issue a (a) derogation and (b) short-term dispensation for passenger rolling stock which is not compliant with the (i) Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations and (ii) Persons with Reduced Mobility Technical Specification for Interoperability after 31 December 2019.

Andrew Jones: The Department’s ‘targeted compliance’ approach to the upgrade of vehicles built before modern accessibility standards were established considers applications for dispensation on a case-by-case basis and in consultation with the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee. It has already issued 34 dispensations from standards in the Persons of Reduced Mobility Technical Specification for Interoperability and 33 exemptions from standards in the Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Non-Interoperable Rail System) Regulations 2010 for fleets which will continue in operation after 31 December 2019. Derogations against interoperability standards are issued by the European Commission in respect of newly designed vehicles and not by the Secretary of State.

Great Western Railway

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions have taken place between his Department, Network Rail and Hitachi on electromagnetic compatibility modifications to the Great Western Class 800 fleet.

Andrew Jones: The Department is engaging regularly with Network Rail (NR), Hitachi Rail Europe (HRE) and Great Western Railway (GWR) in regards to the electromagnetic compatibility and exploring the potential for future improvements on the Great Western Class 800 trains, the details of which are subject to on-going commercial confidentiality.

East Coast Mainline

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what adjustments were required to the IEP contract with Agility Trains to install filters on the Class 800 trains for use on the East Coast mainline; and what the cost was of those installations.

Andrew Jones: The Intercity Express Programme (IEP) contracts require Agility Trains to provide trains that are compatible with the network. There are mechanisms within the contractual structure to allow for adjustments to be made as a result of required train modifications such as the installation of filters on the East Coast IEP fleet. Discussions are currently ongoing between DfT and Agility Trains on the implementation of the required contractual changes.

Roads: Capital Investment

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department undertook a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the draft road investment strategy 2.

Jesse Norman: Every project proposed through the next Road Investment Strategy will go through the appropriate sections of the planning process, and this process usually includes multiple opportunities for consultation. As such, RIS proposals are subject to Environmental Impact Assessment regulations, rather than to those leading to a Strategic Environmental Assessment. The Department will ensure that every project is assessed in line with applicable law, and aims to provide additional opportunities for people with wider environmental interests and concerns to get involved when possible.

Motorways

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the motorway network in England and Wales are Smart motorways.

Jesse Norman: There are approximately 297 miles of smart motorway out of the total of 1,890 miles of motorway (15.7%) in England for which Highways England are responsible.Motorways in Wales are a devolved matter and therefore the responsibility of the Welsh Government.

Motorways

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timeframe is for the roll-out of Smart motorways throughout England and Wales.

Jesse Norman: The timeframe for the roll-out of smart motorways in England has been set out by Highways England in their delivery plan, the latest annual update of which was published in July 2018. This is the plan for implementing the schemes committed to in the first Road Investment Strategy (RIS1) covering the period 2015-2020. Investment plans for the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2) for the period 2020-2025 are expected to be set out later this year and it is expected that Highways England will subsequently publish a delivery plan. Motorways in Wales are a devolved matter and therefore the responsibility of the Welsh Government.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what fees (a) have already been paid and (b) are due to be paid to (i) WSP and (ii) WilkinsonEyre for design work on High Speed Two.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: WSP UK Limited acts as the station design contractor for Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street stations, which were awarded in February 2018. WSP has been paid £20,362,000 for design work related to Old Oak Common and £13,266,710 for design work related to Birmingham Curzon Street. WSP UK Ltd also performs a number of other advisory and engineering support functions for HS2 Ltd, including developing the RIBA2 design for Euston where it was paid £11,102,531. Wikinson Eyre Architects Limited supports HS2 Ltd’s station designers for Old Oak Common (WSP UK Limited) and Birmingham Interchange (Ove Arup & Partners International Limited). Wilkinson Eyre are paid as a sub-contractor to the station designers and not directly by HS2 Ltd meaning that no information is held on the amount paid for design work.

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency: Recruitment

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many disabled candidates have undertaken written assessments in the recruitment process for jobs in the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in the last 24 months; and of those candidates how many (a) necessitated reasonable adjustments to be made and (b) were appointed.

Jesse Norman: In the last 24 months 19 disabled candidates have undertaken written assessments in the recruitment process for jobs in the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA); and of those candidates (b) 10 were appointed. The DVSA does not hold data for (a) how many candidates necessitated reasonable adjustments to be made.

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency: Recruitment

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many applicants for jobs at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency have (a) declared themselves as disabled and (b) been successful (i) in the sift and (ii) at interview at each grade in each year since the agency was established.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) holds the requested data for a rolling 24 month period, in line with the Data Protection Act. A total of 1,744 applicants for roles within the DVSA in the last 24 months declared themselves disabled. Of these, 647 were successful at the sift stage and 58 at the interview stage. The DVSA does not hold data on the grade of the applicant.

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency: Recruitment

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many candidates at each grade have been successful at interview for job roles in the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency under its Guaranteed Interview scheme.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not hold the requested data for how many candidates at each grade were successful at interview for job roles under its Guaranteed Interview Scheme.

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency: Grievance Procedures

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff grievances were lodged with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency by grade of staff who (a) lodged those grievances and (b) had those grievances lodged against them in each of the last two financial years.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not hold data on staff grievances raised before November 2016. The table below shows the number of staff grievances, and the grade of the member of staff making the grievance, lodged with the DVSA in each of the last two financial years. The DVSA does not hold data which details against whom a grievance is lodged. Financial YearGrievances lodgedGrade2016/17*477 Administrative Officers (AOs); 31 Executive Officers (EOs); 7 Higher Executive Officers (HEOs); 1 Senior Executive Officer (SEO); 1 grade 62017/188911 AOs; 65 EOs; 12 HEOs; 1 SEO * Nov 2016-Mar 2017

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency: Grievance Procedures

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff grievances were upheld by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency by grade of staff lodging those grievances in each of the last two financial years.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not hold data on staff grievances raised before November 2016. The table below shows the number of staff grievances, and the grade of the member of staff making the grievance, fully upheld by the DVSA in each of the last two financial years. Financial YearUpheld grievancesGrade2016/17*Less than 5See note below2017/18106 EOs; 4 HEOs* Nov 2016-Mar 2017Note:In line with Data Protection requirements, where there are fewer than 5 members of staff, I am unable to disclose further information.

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency: Grievance Procedures

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff grievances raised at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) were lodged by (a) contingent labour staff and (b) the DVSA against contingent labour staff.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not hold data on staff grievances raised before November 2016. Since then, no staff grievances raised at the DVSA have been lodged by contingent labour staff. The DVSA does not hold data which details against whom a grievance is lodged.

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency: Grievance Procedures

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff grievances raised at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency related to bullying and harassment in each of the last two financial years.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not hold data on staff grievances raised before November 2016. The number of staff grievances raised at the DVSA relating solely or in part to bullying and harassment in each of the last two financial years is shown below. Financial YearStaff grievances2016/17*212017/1839 * Nov 2016-Mar 2017

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency: Grievance Procedures

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff grievances raised at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency for bullying and harassment in each of the last two financial years were upheld; and what the grade of the staff member raising those grievance was.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Standard Agency (DVSA) does not hold data on staff grievances raised before November 2016. The number of fully upheld staff grievances raised at the DVSA, relating solely or in part to bullying and harassment in each of the last two financial years, is shown below. This includes the grade of the staff member raising the grievance. Financial YearUpheld staff grievancesGrade2016/17*21 Executive Officer (EO); 1 Higher Executive Officer (HEO)2017/1822 HEOs* Nov 2016-Mar 2017

Driving Tests

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the driving test pass rate  by the gender of the candidate (a) was before 4 December 2017 when changes to the test were introduced to include following instructions on a Sat Nav and (b) is currently.

Jesse Norman: The driving test pass rate for male and female candidates is as follows: GenderDecember 2016 – September 2017December 2017 – September 2018Male50.5%49.4%Female43.7%42.3%

Driving Tests

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) male and (b) female driving examiners are employed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, as on 31 January 2019, employed 1364 male and 432 female driving examiners.

Driving Tests

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many driving examiners with Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency delegated examiner status are (a) male and (b) female.

Jesse Norman: There are 131 male and 3 female driving examiners with Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency delegated examiner status.

Driving Tests

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many driving examiners have Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency delegated examiner status; and how many delegated examiners conduct (a) car tests, (b) LGV tests and (c) motorcycle tests.

Jesse Norman: There are 134 driving examiners with Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency delegated examiner status. Delegated examiners do not conduct car or motorcycle tests. 65 delegated examiners conduct large goods vehicle (LGV) tests.

Driving Tests

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the pass rate for driving tests conducted Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency delegated examiners (a) was before 4 December 2017 when changes to the test were introduced to include following instructions on a Sat Nav and (b) is currently.

Jesse Norman: Changes to the driving test on 4 December 2017 related to practical car tests only. Driving examiners with Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency delegated examiner status do not conduct car tests.

High Speed Two: Agency Workers

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much HS2 Ltd has spent on agency staff since July 2018; and how many agency staff from which agencies that spending was so spent on.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: For the 6 months from July to December 2018, HS2 Ltd’s total expenditure is £5,663,422 for an average of 89 FTE agency staff per month over this period. HS2 Ltd’s agency staff are predominantly sourced through their Neutral Vendor arrangement with Comensura. In addition there are a small number sourced through the following agencies: Office Angels; CJ Associates; Equib Limited; Park Street Partners Ltd; and Stratia Consulting Ltd.

Merchant Shipping: EU Countries

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that UK seafarers can continue to work on EU flagged vessels in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has made to the European Maritime Safety Agency on UK seafarers continuing to work on EU flagged vessels in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on UK seafarers continuing to work on EU flagged vessels in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that certificates of competency for UK seafarers will be recognised by EU member states in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of encouraging UK seafarers to renew EU members state endorsements attesting to their recognition before 29 March 2019 in order to mitigate the effect on UK seafarers working on EU flagged vessels in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government published a Technical Notice in September on the recognition of seafarer certificates of competency if there’s no deal with the European Union https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/recognition-of-seafarer-certificates-of-competency-if-theres-no-brexit-deal/recognition-of-seafarer-certificates-of-competency-if-theres-no-brexit-deal . This outlined how the government is providing continuity for EU trained seafarers working on board UK flagged vessels. The notice also explained the action we are taking to encourage other Member States – in the event of no deal - to initiate the well- established process of third country recognition for UK certificates of competency (CoCs). It confirmed the advice from the European Commission that in all circumstances current CoCs will remain valid until their expiry date. I will be meeting Nautilus and the Chamber of Shipping shortly to discuss whether further advice to seafarers on CoCs would be helpful at this time.The action that the UK is taking on EU trained seafarers has been welcomed by employers and trade unions. The European Community Shipowners’ Associations and the European Transport Workers Federation have urged Member States to follow the UK’s lead to ensure continuity for UK trained seafarers. The government will continue to work with the European institutions and Member States to ensure that UK and EU trained seafarers can continue to serve on EU and UK flagged vessels as they do now.

Roads: North Herefordshire

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps he has taken to increase funding for the repair of local roads in North Herefordshire.

Jesse Norman: Herefordshire County Council, as local highway authority is responsible for the maintenance of the local road network, including North Herefordshire. The funding provided by the Department for Transport for highway maintenance, including pothole repair, to Herefordshire County Council since 2015 is shown in the table below. The table highlights the Department for Transport allocated the authority an additional £5.1 million this financial year to support local highways maintenance services, including the repair of roads.  YearFunding Stream Funding £m 2015/16Highways Maintenance Block11.5232016/17Highways Maintenance Block (including Incentive Element)11.2102016/17Pothole Action Fund0.6742017/18Highways Maintenance Block (including Incentive Element)11.2292017/18Pothole Action Fund1.5292017/18Flood Resilience Fund0.6102018/19Highways Maintenance Block (including Incentive Element)11.2182018/19Pothole Action Fund0.6422018/19Budget £420 million5.108Total 53.743

Department for Transport: Brexit

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many officials from his Department have been seconded from their primary role to make preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The Department has approximately 260 Full Time Equivalent staff currently working on EU Exit. The Department does not distinguish between those working on deal and no-deal scenarios.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what research Department has commissioned or gathered on the effect of open loop scrubbers on sediment quality in UK waters; and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department has not commissioned any research since the original development of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Guidelines for Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS). The UK permits the use of EGCS which meet international standards to comply with the sulphur limits. The Department and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency continue to play an active role in the development of these Guidelines and are aware of the growing interest in the potential cumulative environmental impact of discharges from these systems. In response to this, the UK in conjunction with other European States, has submitted a paper to the IMO’s Marine Environmental Protection Committee, to establish a new output to further evaluate and harmonise the rules and guidance associated with EGCS at an international level.

Heathrow Airport: Railways

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2019 to Written Question 207580 on Heathrow Airport: Railways, how much funding has been allocated for the next stage of development for a Southern Rail Access to Heathrow.

Andrew Jones: In line with the recommendations of the recently published Market Sounding Report on Southern Rail Link to Heathrow, Government is now working to further develop and clarify the outcomes we want to be delivered from this project and consider appropriate commercial models. This work is being done as quickly as possible, following which we intend to set out further engagement opportunities to all interested parties. This work is being funded from within current Departmental resource budgets.

Heathrow Airport: Railways

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2019 to Written Question 207579 on Heathrow Airport: Railways, what plans the Government has for undertaking a Grip 1-2 study of a Southern Rail Access to Heathrow.

Andrew Jones: The Government remains committed to significant involvement by the market in designing and constructing a Southern Rail link to Heathrow. The Market Sounding Findings Report published in December 2018 recommended that Government now needs to further clarify the outcomes we want to be delivered from this project and consider appropriate commercial models for the market to take forward the development of potential solutions. This work is being done as quickly as possible following which we intend to set out further engagement opportunities to all interested parties.

Railways: Birmingham

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the proportion of capacity used was of trains between London and Birmingham during (a) peak and (b) out of peak hours in each of the last twelve months.

Andrew Jones: There are no published statistics on the train capacity used between London and Birmingham. The Department publishes rail crowding statistics by city which gives information on passenger numbers and capacity on arrival and departure from city centre stations. Further information is available from the links below. Peak rail capacity on a typical autumn weekday by city:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/728192/rai0212.ods Peak rail capacity on a typical autumn weekday by London terminals:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/728193/rai0213.ods

Air Routes

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he had with representatives of UK air carriers prior to his letter to industry on 7 January 2019 on the European Commission’s proposed draft regulation on air connectivity.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure UK airlines are able to expand their (a) networks and (b) destinations after the UK leaves the EU.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations (a) he and (b) officials of his Department have made to the European Commission to remove the cap in Article 3(2) of the proposed draft Regulation on air connectivity.

Jesse Norman: The European Commission has proposed a Regulation which, if adopted, would allow for the continuation of flights from the UK to the EU for a period of 12 months. Nothing has yet been agreed, and the Regulation still needs to be approved by the European Council and the European Parliament. The Government continues to engage with our European partners regarding the continuation of air connectivity and the Regulation remains under close review. The Department will continue to engage with stakeholders across the aviation industry. It is important to note that these measures would only apply in the event that the UK leaves the EU without having concluded a Withdrawal Agreement. The Government’s priority is to leave the EU with a Withdrawal Agreement in place, and then to negotiate an ambitious and comprehensive air transport agreement with the EU, which not only maintains connectivity, but also enables the aviation industry to evolve and innovate.

Dartford-Thurrock Crossing: Fixed Penalties

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people received an incorrectly issued fixed penalty notice for travel on the Dartford Crossing.

Jesse Norman: All Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) are believed to be correct when issued in good faith by Highways England, but under the terms of the Dart Charge scheme PCNs may be contested under the representation and independent appeals procedure for a number of reasons - including circumstances where the charging authority followed all procedures correctly. Since the start of the scheme, up to the end of December 2018, a total of 11,057,905 PCNs have been issued. Of these less than 1% (91,748) are deemed to have been issued incorrectly. This can be for a range of reasons but includes the misreading of vehicle registrations and road user charge payments being inaccurately allocated.

Taxis: Guide Dogs

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Government plans to respond to the recommendations on tackling discrimination against guide dog owners using taxis in the September 2018 report of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and PHV Licensing.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government responded to the report of the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing on 12th February. The response can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/government-response-and-consultation-on-taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-licensing As the response sets out, disability awareness training can provide taxi and PHV drivers with the skills and knowledge to assist disabled passengers appropriately, and the Government supports licensing authorities which require all drivers to complete it. When legislative time is available, the Government will reflect this requirement in National Minimum Standards. In the meantime, the Government committed in its 2018 Inclusive Transport Strategy to undertake research to understand why some drivers continue to refuse passengers with assistance dogs, and what measures are available to challenge such unacceptable behaviour.

Blue Badge Scheme

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to issue guidance to local authorities on changes to the Blue Badge scheme extending eligibility to those with less visible conditions.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport is currently developing guidance, drawing on expertise from medical and healthcare professionals, as well as various disability organisations and local authorities, so that authorities will be able to assess applications under the expanded eligibility criteria for non-physical and hidden disabilities. The guidance will be published to coincide with a forthcoming revision of the statutory regulations, planned for the end of April.

A2: Dual Carriageways

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of dualling the A2 between the Lydden traffic lights and the Port of Dover.

Jesse Norman: The Department recognises the support that exists locally for dualling the remaining sections of the A2 to Dover, and this proposal is one of the many that it is considering for inclusion in the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2). The Department will make decisions on RIS2 later this year, after which it will be possible to develop robust estimates of the cost of specific options for schemes included in the investment plan.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Jerusalem: Palestinians

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on the eviction order issued to the Sabbagh family in East Jerusalem.

Alistair Burt: Our Ambassador to Israel raised our concerns about evictions in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem with the Israeli authorities on 29 January. On 21 January, our Consul General in Jerusalem and other EU Heads of Mission visited the home of the Sabbagh family. In a follow-up statement, the EU repeated its strong opposition to Israel's settlement policy and related actions, including evictions and demolitions, and made clear how such measures were illegal under international law and continued to undermine the viability of a two-state solution. In her intervention at the UN Security Council's open debate on the Middle East on 22 January, the UK Permanent Representative to the UN encouraged Israel not to enforce the eviction notice.

Jerusalem and West Bank: Palestinians

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the number and frequency of eviction orders issued to and the forced displacement of Palestinians in (a) East Jerusalem and (b) the West Bank.

Alistair Burt: Whilst we have not made any recent assessment of this issue, the Government supports Bedouin communities and Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank and Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem facing demolition or eviction through our legal aid programme. This helps residents challenge decisions in the Israeli legal system. We have repeatedly made clear to the Israeli authorities our serious concern at the increase in demolitions of Palestinian properties in Area C of the West Bank and in East Jerusalem.

Israeli Settlements

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the number of Israeli settlers in (a) East Jerusalem and (b) the West Bank.

Alistair Burt: There are an estimated 622,670 settlers in the West Bank. This figure is derived from two sources: According to data provided by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2017, 413,400 people were living in the settlements of the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem. According to data provided by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, the population of the Israeli neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem numbered 209,270 people at the end of 2016.

Zimbabwe: Human Rights

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the level of human rights violations that have recently taken place in Zimbabwe.

Harriett Baldwin: Figures from the respected Zimbabwe Human Rights Non-Government Organisations (NGO) Forum and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission suggest at least 17 deaths, 81 gunshot injuries and many hundreds of other injuries. They also recorded at least 17 incidents of sexual assault by security forces and 873 arrests and detentions.I summoned the Zimbabwean Ambassador on 17 January and spoke to Foreign Minister Moyo on 30 January, to express our concern at the ongoing situation, urge the security forces to stop using disproportionate force, and to investigate any cases of alleged human rights violations.

Bahrain: Political Prisoners

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to Answer of 15 November 2018 to Quesrion 188258, whether any steps have been taken on behalf of Bahraini female political prisoners Hajer Mansoor, Najah Yusuf and Medina Ali to ensure that the Bahraini authorities allow them to see their families without the physical barrier which was imposed in September 2018.

Alistair Burt: As the Honourable Lady will know from answers in this House and the other place, our Embassy in Bahrain and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office continue to monitor the cases of Hajer Mansoor, Najah Ahmed Yusuf and Medina Ali.We continue to encourage those with concerns about treatment in detention to report these to the relevant human rights oversight bodies. We also continue to encourage these bodies to carry out swift and thorough investigations into any such allegations. We understand that the National Institution for Human Rights and the Ministry of Interior Ombudsman are aware of these cases and have been in contact with the three individuals in question.

Middle East: Human Rights

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the challenges facing human rights defenders and rights-focused organisations operating in (a) Israel and (b) the occupied Palestinian territories.

Alistair Burt: The UK remains concerned about the challenges facing human rights defenders and human rights organisations operating in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We continue to urge the Israeli Government to fully respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of human rights defenders and organisations. We have also raised concerns with the Palestinian Authority about the narrowing of space for civil society to operate in the West Bank.​

Bangladesh: Clothing

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Bangladeshi counterpart on reported protests and clashes between garment factory workers and police forces in that country; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: ​To date I have not made representations to the Government of Bangladesh regarding protests by garment factory workers or their clashes with police. Officials at our High Commission in Dhaka continue to monitor the situation, and reports of violence are concerning. Bangladesh remains a Human Rights Priority Country for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and freedom of expression, including the freedom of assembly, is a key concern. I raised more general concerns regarding freedom of expression in Bangladesh with Information Minister Tarana Halim on 14 December. The Foreign Secretary raised his concerns regarding freedom of expression with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 24 September 2018 at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Papua: Armed Conflict

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterpart in Indonesia on the actions of Indonesian military and police forces in West Papua following the attack by the West Papua Liberation Army in the Nduga Region on 1 December 2018.

Mark Field: The British Government is following the situation in Papua with close interest. Officials at the Embassy in Jakarta, including the Ambassador, visit Papua regularly. Our Ambassdor discussed the violence in December 2018 with senior officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and officials raised the issue with Papua police and military representatives during a visit to the region in February. Officials press the Indonesian authorities to address legitimate human rights concerns, including upholding the right of all citizens to peacefully protest, and support the sustainable and equitable development of the province, through political dialogue.​

Papua: Armed Conflict

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will make representations to the (a) Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and (b) other international organisations on undertaking an independent international investigation into the alleged use of white phosphorous on civilian targets in West Papua in December 2018.

Mark Field: The British Government condemns the attack on construction workers by an armed group on 2 December in Nduga district in Papua. We have called on the Indonesian authorities to ensure that the security response is proportionate. Our Ambassador has discussed this with senior officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We are aware of a media claim about the possible use of white phosphorus. This has been strongly denied by the Indonesian authorities. We have been in touch with NGOs and others who have looked into the allegation; they have not found any evidence to support it.​

Papua: United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to ensure that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is granted full and unimpeded access by the Indonesian Government to West Papua.

Mark Field: The British Government is following the situation in Papua with close interest. Officials press the Indonesian authorities to address legitimate human rights concerns, including upholding the right of all citizens to peacefully protest, and to support the sustainable and equitable development of the province through political dialogue. Officials have discussed the proposed visit by OHCHR officials with Indonesian officials and stated UK support for an OHCHR visit to Papua.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Chocolate

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of chocolate products sold in (a) shops, (b) vending machines, and (c) kiosks located within her Department are certified as Fairtrade.

Harriett Baldwin: Across both DFID headquarters in Abercrombie House and Whitehall, fair trade sales accounts for approximately 60% of all chocolate sold across their restaurants, coffee shop and vending machines.

International Assistance

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of harmonising reporting requirements across donors.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID uses and supports the OECD Development Assistance Committee’s (DAC) system for Official Development Assistance (ODA) statistics and the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), which both facilitate harmonised reporting from donors.   The OECD DAC system provides authoritative ODA spend statistics from donor countries according to the internationally agreed definition of ODA, which enables donor effort to be reported in a standardised and comparable format. As a DAC member, the UK is committed to transparent reporting of ODA in a way that allows international comparisons.   IATI is an initiative to improve the transparency of development and humanitarian resources, including results, based on a standard reporting format. More than 900 organisations and donors are publishing their data to the IATI standard. DFID is encouraging all its partners to join IATI to enhance transparency to both taxpayers and beneficiaries and to improve harmonisation and efficiency.

Humanitarian Aid

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce the bureaucratic cost of delivering humanitarian aid.

Alistair Burt: DFID is committed to working for a more efficient and effective global humanitarian system that helps save more lives and reduces suffering. All organisations spending UK taxpayers’ money, including DFID, must adhere to minimum requirements to demonstrate value for money and that we are safeguarding vulnerable people. In the rules governing how DFID spends UK Aid, some process requirements are streamlined for emergency humanitarian aid, to minimise delay in meeting urgent need.

Humanitarian Aid

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to engage with international working groups that work to fulfil the 10 Grand Bargain principles.

Alistair Burt: DFID is committed to delivering on the Grand Bargain commitments and to supporting a more effective and efficient humanitarian system. Between August 2017 and October 2018, the UK was on the Grand Bargain Facilitation Group, where we sought to maintain momentum on all Grand Bargain workstreams. The UK has also focused its efforts on Grand Bargain commitments that are the most critical enablers of transformative change. The UK co-convenes (along with the World Food Programme) the cash workstream, which was assessed to have had the best performance across the breadth of its commitments in 2017. The UK has also been active in supporting the Grand Bargain workstreams, for example on joint needs assessment and accountability to affected populations.

South Sudan: Humanitarian Aid

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to independently verify the performance of the UN humanitarian agencies that it contributes to funding in South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the performance of DFID’s partners is central to our programming to ensure that we deliver the best possible service to people in extreme poverty. DFID South Sudan’s M&E involves both contracted external M&E service providers, who regularly conduct independent monitoring visits to UN humanitarian agencies; and DFID staff, who monitor UN humanitarian agencies on field trips and regularly discuss performance, assess and manage risks, and track progress with UN partners.

Humanitarian Aid

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the transaction costs incurred by her Department’s reporting requirements for UN humanitarian agencies.

Alistair Burt: DFID’s reporting and due diligence requirements are necessarily rigorous in order to safeguard vulnerable people and ensure value for money for the UK tax-payer. We expect all DFID partners, including UN agencies, to meet these high standards.   DFID carefully determines reporting requirements to reflect the specific context. DFID does not have data on transaction costs but is undertaking a range of initiatives to streamline and make more consistent our requirements of UN agencies.

Developing Countries: Economic Situation

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that economic development programmes help the most marginalised and vulnerable in target countries.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID’s 2017 Economic Development Strategy commits to help the most marginalised and vulnerable people through DFID’s economic development programmes, including people living in extreme poverty, women and girls, and people with disabilities. Programming decisions and design are informed by context-specific analysis of opportunities and constraints for supporting inclusive growth that spreads benefits and opportunities right across society. Under the 2014 Gender Equality Act, DFID considers the impact of development or humanitarian assistance on gender equality. DFID’s Inclusive Data Charter Action Plan and DFID’s Disability Inclusion Strategy, both launched in 2018, set out specific steps to make economic development programmes more inclusive.

Overseas Aid

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans her Department has to increase the proportion of Official Development Assistance spent in the least developed countries and fragile states.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID spends sixty percent of its country specific bilateral ODA in the least developed countries and continues to meet its commitment to allocate at least fifty percent of its budget to fragile states as set out in the 2015 Aid Strategy. This does not preclude DFID from increasing the proportion of its spend to these states due to unforeseen disasters or events in any given period.

Burma: Internally Displaced People

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent estimate she has made of the number of internally-displaced persons in Myanmar in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what assessment she has made of trends in the number of internally-displaced people in Myanmar in the last three years.

Alistair Burt: The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Burma has increased in the last three years. The UN reports that there are 106,290 displaced people in Kachin and northern Shan states and 127,987 internally displaced persons in Rakhine State. Figures for northern Rakhine are difficult to gather as the Burmese government has restricted access for the UN and other agencies.   The UK provides humanitarian assistance in all these areas, but this is highly limited by government restrictions. The UK Government continues to push for access at every opportunity.

Yemen: Crimes of Violence

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to prevent violence against women and girls in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: The UK is supporting measures to prevent violence against women and girls in Yemen as part of its £13 million of funding this financial year to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and International Office for Migration (IOM).   These measures have included medical support, legal services and psychosocial counselling to over 1,700 female sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) survivors in Yemen, as well as the establishment of twelve gender specific community-based committees to work on SGBV prevention.

Yemen: Armed Conflict

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of (a) reproductive health and (b) gender based violence prevention services in its response to the situation in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: As part of its £96.5 million of funding to UNICEF in Yemen over the coming three years, the UK will support 800,000 people with reproductive health services. This includes support for over 300,000 people with family planning advice, 292,000 women with antenatal check-ups and 117,000 women during childbirth.   The UK is also supporting measures to prevent violence against women and girls in Yemen as part of its £13 million of funding this financial year (2018/2019) for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and International Office for Migration.   These measures include medical support, legal services and psychosocial counselling to over 1,700 female sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) survivors in Yemen, as well as the establishment of twelve gender specific community-based committees to work on SGBV prevention.

Crimes of Violence: Overseas Aid

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help deliver on the commitments of the Call to Action on Protection from Gender Based Violence in Emergencies.

Harriett Baldwin: In co-chairing the Call to Action States and Donors Working Group, DFID uses its influence to further advance the Call to Action Road Map of commitments. DFID is a member of the Global Steering Committee of the Real Time Accountability Partnership (RTAP) for protection from Gender Based Violence in emergencies which puts Call to Action commitments into practise. We have integrated Call to Action commitments on preventing violence against women and girls into our humanitarian funding mechanisms, core funding to multilateral agencies as well as bilateral funding to international NGOs through the Rapid Response Facility (RRF).

Crimes of Violence: Overseas Aid

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development,  what proportion of her Department's budget has been (a) allocated to and (b) disbursed on gender based violence prevention in 2018-19.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK is a world leader in championing prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls through research, programmes and partnerships. Our £25million What Works to Prevent Violence programme is the largest global investment in research into prevention of violence against women and girls. The Department for International Development is committed to maintaining the UK’s global leadership in this area. Work to prevent violence against women and girls in DFID consists of standalone prevention programming, integrated violence prevention and response programmes, and a wide range of interventions incorporated into wider education, women’s economic empowerment and social protection programmes. This complexity means that we do not specifically track all this spend as gender-based violence prevention.

Crimes of Violence: Overseas Aid

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to prepare for the 2019 Women Deliver Conference in Canada; and if her Department will increase future gender based violence prevention funding.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK is a proud supporter of women’s rights internationally. Women Deliver 2019 will be an important moment to rally global support for this agenda. We are currently in discussions with the organisers about how best the UK can engage. Far more needs to be done to combat the appalling levels of violence that women and girls experience every day around the world. The Department for International Development’s ground-breaking research into violence against women and girls has demonstrated that violence is preventable, and we are committed to using this evidence to scale up our work to prevent violence and to influence our international partners to do the same. That is why in November my Right Hon Friend the Secretary of State announced an additional £50m to tackle Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). This was just the latest demonstration of the UK Government’s commitment to doing more to improve the lives of women and girls in all contexts. I also hope it will encourage other governments to step up and invest more in preventing violence against women and girls in all its forms.

Sustainable Development

James Heappey: What steps her Department is taking to encourage people to contribute to the Voluntary National Review of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Penny Mordaunt: I am committed to an inclusive Voluntary National Review that showcases activity across the UK. Almost 200 organisations and individuals have submitted case studies highlighting activity to support delivery of the Goals. We continue to welcome contributions which can be submitted via our gov.uk VNR website.

Trade Agreements: Developing Countries

Scott Mann: What steps her Department is taking to promote the Government's trade for development programme.

Penny Mordaunt: The UK remains a world leader in trade for development. We are prioritising our trading partners for the future, for example through our commitments on gender, the new Commonwealth Standards Network and our ambition for the UK to be the largest G7 investor in Africa by 2022.

CDC: Poverty

Imran Hussain: What steps she is taking to ensure that new investments made by the CDC Group contribute to poverty reduction.

Penny Mordaunt: CDC invests to create jobs and reduce poverty. The five year Strategic Framework published in 2017 sets out steps CDC is taking to maximise the development impact of its investments. Almost 750,000 people are directly employed by companies supported by CDC in the poorest countries in Africa and South Asia.

International Assistance

Mrs Kemi Badenoch: What steps she is taking to promote reform of OECD Development Assistance Committee rules on aid spending.

Penny Mordaunt: The UK is leading efforts to modernise the international aid rules to ensure they can keep pace with new challenges and support the delivery of the Global Goals. We have secured significant progress in changing the rules, including the recent agreement on an ODA reverse-graduation mechanism.

Trade Agreements: Developing Countries

Jeremy Lefroy: What steps her Department is taking to promote the Government's trade for development programme.

Penny Mordaunt: The UK remains a world leader in trade for development. We are prioritising our trading partners for the future, for example through our commitments on gender, the new Commonwealth Standards Network and our ambition for the UK to be the largest G7 investor in Africa by 2022.

Overseas Aid

Mr Jim Cunningham: What assessment she has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the UK’s international development sector.

Penny Mordaunt: UK organisations have shared with us their own assessments of leaving the EU. The Withdrawal Agreement confirms that UK organisations are entitled to participate in current EU programmes for their duration. In the future, any UK financial contribution to EU programmes would require eligibility for UK organisations to implement relevant programmes.

Department for Education

Schools: Obesity

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the role participation in sports at school can play in tackling obesity.

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the levels of participation in sport in secondary schools.

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the levels of participation in sport in primary schools.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government firmly believes in the importance of physical education (PE), sport and extra-curricular activities to teach children the importance of physical activity to improve their physical and mental health as well as their overall wellbeing. The government’s Childhood Obesity Plan (COP) highlights the contribution that schools can make, including through PE and sport. Since 2013, the government has invested over £1 billion of ring-fenced funding through the primary PE and sport premium to improve PE, sport, physical activity and extra-curricular activities for all pupils in England. We encourage schools to use this funding to support their least active pupils to achieve the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines of 60 minutes of physical activity each day, of which 30 minutes should be during the school day. Under the COP chapter 2 update, the government is promoting a national ambition for every primary school in England to embrace an active mile, such as the ‘daily mile’, as a fun, inclusive and engaging way for all pupils to develop healthy exercise habits from a young age. Schools have the freedom to use the funding to determine which activities will improve participation, especially for their least active pupils. The government has also utilised £100 million from the soft drinks industry levy through the healthy pupils capital fund in England to improve pupil access to facilities for physical activity, healthy eating, mental health and wellbeing, and medical conditions.The ‘Active lives: children & young people’ survey published its baseline findings in December 2018. The survey provides a valuable insight on how children in both primary and secondary schools engage in sport and physical activity: https://www.sportengland.org/media/13698/active-lives-children-survey-academic-year-17-18.pdf.

Home Education: Standards

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures his Department plans to use to evaluate the effectiveness of its guidance entitled Improving the home learning environment, published on 14 November 2018.

Nadhim Zahawi: This publication sets out a behaviour change approach that will inform our work to improve the home learning environment, so that a greater proportion of children have the early language, communication and literacy skills they need to thrive. It brings together the latest evidence from research and draws on the experience of experts working with families every day.The behaviour change model is a living document, which we intend to update as new evidence emerges and as practice develops.

Children in Care: Health Services

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2018 to Question HL7925, how the organisation that is managing the integrated physical and mental health assessments for looked-after children identifies and meets the speech, language and communication needs of those children.

Nadhim Zahawi: We have appointed a consortium of partners, led by the Anna Freud Centre, to support delivery of the mental health assessment pilots. The pilots will test improved approaches to the mental health and wellbeing element of the health assessments looked-after children receive on entry to care. The improved assessments will be child-centred and needs-focused. They will support timely identification of needs and inform whether more comprehensive assessment and support is needed. For some children, this will result in referrals to specialist services, such as speech, language and communication services. The pilots will also explore the range of professionals that should be involved in the assessment process. We will be conducting a full evaluation of the pilots, which will consider how effective the mental health assessments are at providing an accurate and thorough diagnosis of the child’s needs.

Department for Education: Overseas Aid

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2019 to Question 208844 on Department for Education: Overseas Aid; if he will set out what specific programmes that funding was spent on.

Anne Milton: The spend figures relate to the provision of education to child and unaccompanied child asylum seekers in the 12 months after they make an asylum claim in the UK. The figures are an estimate of the amount of core schools funding provided to schools in relation to these children.The government is clear that in meeting its responsibilities to the world's poorest citizens through its aid commitments, the UK also protects its own security and interests. As set out in the UK's aid strategy, the UK aid budget is used to tackle the great global challenges, from the root causes of mass migration and disease to the threat of terrorism and global climate change, all of which also directly threaten British interests.

Schools: Antisemitism

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking within schools to tackle antisemitism.

Anne Milton: Holding answer received on 12 February 2019



Any form of intolerance or bullying, including antisemitism is unacceptable. Schools must promote our shared values, which includes mutual respect and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs. The department supports schools to implement this requirement through a range of resources, such as those included on the Educate Against Hate website, as well as by working with networks of experts on the ground who provide direct support to schools on this. Every state-funded school, maintained and academy, must also teach religious education to all pupils up to the age of 18. Schools must comply with the requirements of the Equality Act and must also have a behaviour policy which includes measures to prevent bullying. Recent research commissioned by the department details common strategies that schools have found to be effective for combating bullying. The department is funding a number of projects to help schools tackle bullying, including hate-related bullying. This includes funding the Anne Frank Trust to develop their ‘Free to Be’ debate programme, which encourages young people to think about the importance of tackling prejudice, discrimination and bullying. We also recently published the ‘Respectful Schools Communities’ toolkit; a self-review and signposting tool to support schools to develop a whole-school approach which promotes respect and discipline.The department is fully committed to educating pupils about the Holocaust and is the only topic that is compulsory in the national curriculum for history. We fund the Centre for Holocaust at University College London to train trainee and serving teachers to teach this important subject and to set up a network of Beacon schools to share good practice. We also fund the Holocaust Education Trust’s ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ programme, which enables teachers and sixth form students to visit Auschwitz.Schools can also address intolerance and bullying as part of non-statutory personal, social, health and economic education. We are also making relationships education compulsory in all primary schools and relationships and sex education compulsory in all secondary schools. We have completed a public consultation on draft guidance which is clear that pupils will be taught about the importance of building respectful relationships including, for example, understanding the impact of bullying and how stereotypes can be damaging.Subject to making the regulations, schools will be required to teach these new subjects from September 2020, but they will be encouraged and supported to start teaching them from September 2019 on a voluntary basis.

Further Education: Finance

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding from the further education review restructuring facility has been allocated to (a) sixth form colleges and (b) FE colleges in the latest period for which figures are available.

Anne Milton: From 1 April 2016 to 31 January 2019, the total allocation of restructuring facility funding in England is approximately £470 million. The total spend so far is approximately £290 million.Of the total allocation of £470 million, up to £435 million has been allocated for general further education colleges (including partnerships with universities), up to £25 million has been allocated for mergers between general further education colleges and sixth form colleges and up to £10 million for conversion of sixth form colleges to academy status.

Children: Merseyside

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in the number of looked after children, child protection plans and children in need throughout (a) Wirral and (b) Liverpool City Region in the last five years.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department publishes information on looked-after children, child protection plans and children in need in local authorities, including those within Wirral and Liverpool, in the local authority interactive tool. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-interactive-tool-lait.There are a range of factors that contribute to trends in demand for children’s social care including deprivation in different local authorities. The most deprived local authorities have more looked-after children (per 10,000 0 to 17-year-olds), and these rates have grown faster than the least deprived local authorities. The most common factors that present themselves in children’s social care assessments are domestic abuse and mental health. Data on this is available in table C3 of the statistical release ‘Characteristics of children in need 2017 to 2018’ at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need-2017-to-2018.In preparation for the Spending Review, to help ensure decisions are based on the best available evidence, the government is working with the sector to develop a sharper and more granular picture of demand for children’s services.

Disabled Students’ Allowances

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that prospective students eligible to receive Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) receive adequate information on DSAs before starting their courses.

Chris Skidmore: Information on Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) is freely available on direct.gov at: https://www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowances-dsas . The Student Loans Company (SLC) works closely with higher education providers (HEPs) to promote DSAs to all of their students, by providing quick guides which can be passed to students at open days, and by working with HEPs Disability Services. During Student Money Week prospective students will be able to access online DSAs information provided by SLC. In January 2015 statutory guidance for organisations which work with children and young people who have special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities was published, and is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/398815/SEND_Code_of_Practice_January_2015.pdf .This details how local authorities must publish a Local Offer, setting out in one place information about provision they expect to be available across education, health and social care for those in their area who have SEN or are disabled, including those who do not have education, health and care plans. The Local Offer must include information about support available to young people in higher education, particularly DSAs and the process and timescales for making an application. In an article on 17 January, found here: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/jan/17/universities-can-do-more-to-support-their-disabled-students, I called on universities to do more to show disabled students that going to university can be an option for them, and to put disabled students front and centre in their planning to accommodate their needs.

Religion: Education

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the recommendations of the September 2018 Commission on Religious Education Religion and Worldviews report entitled The Way Forward.

Nick Gibb: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State decided that accepting the Commission’s main proposals would be incompatible with his commitment to make no changes to the curriculum, other than those already announced, during the remaining lifetime of this Parliament. He did however announce improvements to bursaries for initial teacher training and new funding for religious education subject knowledge enhancement courses. His full response to the Commission is set out in a letter of 6 December 2018 which can be found at: www.religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk/news/government-response-to-the-commission-on-re/.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Secondment

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2019 to Question 216426 on Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Secondment, for what reasons he did not specify in that answer when the number of staff who are being seconded to that Department to work on programmes related to the UK leaving the EU will be determined.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education (DfE) is working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to manage the secondment of some DfE staff to support EU exit work. This includes determining final numbers, which depends in part on whether DEFRA fill vacancies through other routes.

Teachers: Pensions

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to provide additional financial support to universities to cover the increase in employer contributions to the Teachers' Pension Scheme in (a) 2019-20 and (b) future financial years.

Nick Gibb: The Department ran a public consultation which closed on 12 February 2019 to gather evidence on the impact of increased contributions to the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) for all TPS employers, including universities. Final decisions on funding will be taken once the consultation responses have been reviewed. All funding decisions for 2020/21 onwards will be decided as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.

Leader of the House

Times of Sittings

Patrick Grady: To ask the Leader of the House, whether she plans to make arrangements for the House of Commons to sit on (a) the day or (b) the day after the UK leaves the EU.

Andrea Leadsom: There are currently no plans for the House to sit on either the 29 or 30 March. Any changes to the sitting hours of the House would need to be agreed by the House in the usual way.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Air Pollution

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) devolved Administrations and (b) local authority leaders to ensure the continuation of clean air policy across the UK in the event of the UK leaving the EU.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Statutory air quality targets for 2020 and 2030 are already in place. We continue to work with Devolved Administrations and Local Authorities to deliver the measures to meet these UK targets. Under the Withdrawal Act, the Government has made Statutory Instruments which make necessary technical amendments to EU air quality legislation (in particular The Air Quality (Miscellaneous Amendment and Revocation of Retained Direct EU Legislation) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 and The Air Quality (Amendment of Domestic Regulations) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019). These ensure continuity without changing any of the substantive requirements, or reducing air quality standards. The UK is also a signatory to the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research his Department has commissioned or gathered on the effect of open loop scrubbers on sediment quality in UK waters; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Department has not commissioned research or gathered scientific evidence concerning the effect of open loop scrubber systems (designed to remove a range of contaminants from a ship’s exhaust gases) on sediments in UK waters. The Department is aware of the increasing interest in this area and of the potential effects on the receiving coastal/marine environment due to wastewater discharges from these systems. As more robust, scientific evidence emerges, Defra will assess the risks to sediment and seawater quality.

Solid Fuels: Heating

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to commission a comparative assessment of the PM 2.5 emissions generated per kwh for each fuel type burned on an open domestic fire only as part of his consultation on the cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given on 7 December 2018, PQ UIN 198188.

Fracking: Lancashire

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of noise levels at the Preston New Road Shale Gas site since the commencement of (a) exploratory drilling and (b) exploratory fracturing.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Lancashire Country Council and the Environment Agency are jointly responsible for noise level assessments under planning conditions and environmental permit conditions. Flaring operations are currently the only activity regulated under an environmental permit that noise could be attributed to. The Environment Agency carefully considered emissions from noise and vibrations during its environmental permit determination and concluded that they are not an issue due to the design of the flare, the location of the site, and the level of background noise.

Environment Protection: Education

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking through the 25 Year Environment Plan to promote learning on the environment and sustainability for children in schools with low levels of access to natural spaces.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The 25 Year Environment Plan, published in January 2018, sets out the government’s ambition to improve the environment within a generation. A key commitment is to encourage children to be close to nature, in and out of school. The government announced £10 million funding for the Children and Nature Programme which aims to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds to have better access to the natural environment. The programme has been designed to make it possible for schools to undertake a range of activities in natural spaces, including learning about nature and how to care for the natural environment. As announced by the Environment Secretary on 31 January, grants have recently been awarded to projects in the Children and Nature programme. Resilience through Nature, a consortium of The Wildlife Trusts, YoungMinds, Groundwork, the Sensory Trust and Field Studies Council, have been appointed to the Nature Friendly Schools project which will help deliver greener grounds and pupil visits to green spaces for schools with the highest proportion of disadvantaged pupils. Social Farms and Gardens, working with Thrive, will deliver the Growing Care Farming project which aims to achieve a transformational change in the scale, scope and uptake of care farming services in England for children and adults with a defined health, education or social need particularly those from disadvantaged areas. Funding for the Community Forests and Woodland Outreach project is yet to be awarded. The announcement on 31 January marked the beginning of the 2019 Year of Green Action. Over the next 12 months government will work with businesses and communities to create ways for people from all backgrounds to connect with nature, protect our environment, and contribute to restoring our natural world. As part of the 2019 Year of Green Action, the nationwide #iwill4nature initiative, led by charity Step Up To Serve and backed by government will support a series of activities for young people to connect with, protect and enhance nature.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of civil servants working full-time for two days on meetings related to a compromise plan for exiting the European Union.

Kwasi Kwarteng: Civil servants from across Whitehall are working on a variety of projects and policy areas to support the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.The Department does not hold information on the costs borne by other departments and therefore is unable to provide this information.Further to this, it should be noted that the Department does not record expenditure on specific activities; it records expenditure on a functional basis. It is, therefore, not possible for the Department to attribute staff costs to specific projects or activities.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Brexit

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Attorney General, how many officials from his Department have been seconded from their primary role to make preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Buckland: The Attorney General’s Office, along with all of HM Government, is committed to ensuring that we make a success of EU Exit. No officials from the Attorney General’s Office, a small ministerial department, have been seconded from their primary role to make preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; officials working on EU Exit are preparing for all scenarios.

Crown Courts: Disclosure of Information

Jo Stevens: To ask the Attorney General, how many and what proportion of Crown Court trials did not complete due to a prosecution failure to disclose evidence to the defence in each year since 2010.

Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of Crown Court trials which resulted in a non-conviction outcome due to a prosecution failure to disclose evidence to the defence. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost. As part of the work under the National Disclosure Improvement Plan, the CPS has introduced new data collection measures designed to monitor disclosure performance. These measures include all prosecutors now being required to confirm at the conclusion of every case that has been stopped after charge whether disclosure had a primary or contributory impact on the outcome. This will allow us to capture more data than ever before on cases in which disclosure does not ultimately cause the case to end but where it was a secondary factor, and will enable performance to be examined by police and prosecutors at local, regional and national level and to drive further improvements. The first set of this data will be published in due course.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Drugs

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2019 to Question 210641 on Prisons: Drugs, how many ambulances attended each prison as a result of (a) staff injuries and (b) staff injuries due to exposure to psychoactive substance in each year since 2010.

Rory Stewart: Protecting the health and safety of our staff and prisoners is of the utmost importance. We take all reported incidents seriously and work hard to mitigate any risks that staff or prisoners face. We record ambulance attendance at prisons but our analysis does not identify the number of attendances relating specifically to staff injuries. However, we examine all of the information that we receive on reported incidents to ensure that we learn lessons and provide all staff with appropriate guidance. We are working closely with Public Health England to understand the issues around secondary exposure to psychoactive substances and ensure that we respond appropriately.We have revised our internal guidance on controlling the risks of secondary exposure and this will be published shortly. It includes information on how to assess and control risk on entry into cells where psychoactive substances have been used, with more detail on specific airborne risks and control methods, and clearer guidance on responding to and investigating exposure.

Prisons: Drugs

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2019 to Question 210641 on Prisons: Drugs, how many members of staff at each prison were admitted to hospital as a result of exposure to psychoactive substance in each year since 2010.

Rory Stewart: Protecting the health and safety of our staff and prisoners is of the utmost importance. Our staff work hard to ensure that our prisons are safe and we are concerned by reports of the effects of secondary exposure to psychoactive substances. We do not have data on the number of staff admitted to hospital as a result of secondary exposure to a psychoactive substance but we are working closely with Public Health England to understand the issues around secondary exposure to psychoactive substances and ensure that we respond appropriately.We have revised our internal guidance on controlling the risks of secondary exposure and this will be published shortly. It includes information on how to assess and control risk on entry into cells where psychoactive substances have been used, with more detail on specific airborne risks and control methods, and clearer guidance on responding to and investigating exposure.

Prisons: Education

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the new Prison Education Framework and Dynamic Provisioning System contracts on the continuity of education provision in prisons; and if he will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: We intend to undertake a full assessment of the impact of our prison education reforms. Our ground-breaking Education and Employment Strategy, published in May 2018, set out ambitious plans to give prison governors power and control over the education arrangements in their establishments. The Prison Education Framework and prison education Dynamic Purchasing System are key elements of reform, enabling a governor to determine what their curriculum is, how it is delivered and who delivers it. But our Strategy also made clear that consistency across the prison estate is necessary in some areas so that prisoners can move from one prison to another without disrupting their education. The Prison Education Framework is the means through which governors must deliver the core common curriculum of maths, English, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), whilst a suite of Concession Contracts with four Awarding Organisations means their qualifications will be used exclusively in the seven most commonly studied subjects. Both will ensure continuity, as will the arrangements we are mandating for assessment of reception, development of personal learning plans and common formats for data gathering and submission.

Prisons: Education

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department will take to evaluate the effectiveness of the new Prison Education Framework and Dynamic Provisioning System commissioning model.

Rory Stewart: It remains our intention to undertake a full assessment of the impact of our prison education reforms, including the particular impact of the Prison Education Framework and prison education Dynamic Purchasing System.

Female Genital Mutilation: Convictions

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of FGM offences in the last three years.

Lucy Frazer: Up until 31 December 2017, there have been no convictions in England and Wales for the principal offence of female genital mutilation under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. Data for 2018 will be published in May 2019. Whilst not yet recorded in the official statistics, a jury convicted the first defendant of an FGM offence on 1 February 2019.

Cabinet Office

Department for Exiting the European Union: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants will be transferred from the Department for Education to the Department for Exiting the European Union.

Mr David Lidington: I refer the honourable gentleman to the answer of 7 February 2019. https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=216138

Homicide: Females

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, in how many cases of domestic homicides the victim was female in each of the last five years.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 77.63 KB)

Alternative Arrangements Working Group

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government took to mitigate (a) actual and (b) perceived conflicts of interests of attendees of the 4 February 2019 meeting of the Alternative Arrangements Working Group.

Mr David Lidington: These meetings are part of routine Ministerial meetings hosted by a Minister with the support of the Civil Service, therefore taking place in accordance with the Ministerial Code. The normal guidelines and principles concerning Ministerial meetings apply.

House of Commons Commission

House of Commons: Heating

Frank Field: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will make an assessment of the merits of supplementary heating in the Library Corridor so that the officers of the House standing there are kept warm.

Tom Brake: The welfare of our staff is of course our principal concern. Whilst the issue of supplementary heating has not been raised by any of the Doorkeepers through the usual management channels, I can confirm that the situation has already been assessed and a simple solution, involving the closing of a fire door, has been identified, which will be implemented immediately, subject to consultation with the fire safety team. In addition, the high level windows in library corridor, which had been contributing to a cold draught in the corridor, have now all been closed.The Doorkeepers are on post for a maximum of 30 minutes at a time, and the post is rotated daily between a team of 11 Doorkeepers, so the team should find that the proposed solution will deliver immediate benefits to their working environment.The Library Corridor is not presently heated. It is lined on both sides with bookcases which means there is nowhere to install any radiators, and the pipework to do so currently does not exist.

House of Commons: Correspondence

Jo Swinson: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment the Commission has made of the effect of the contract for offsite screening of incoming mail to the Houses of Parliament on the ability of Members to receive next-day mail.

Jo Swinson: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will investigate delays experienced by Members receiving incoming mail.

Tom Brake: Mail is collected from the SW1 delivery office in Pensbury Place, London, SW8 by the mail screening contractor at the following times (Mon-Fri) 01:30, 03:30, 04:30, 05:30, 07:00 & 09:00. Post is security screened and subsequently delivered on the same day to the post room in PCH at 05:35, 06:45, 08:30, 10:00, 12:00 & 13:40 where it is sorted and delivered to Members offices at 9am & 12 noon.Any signed for or Special Delivery items received after the 12 noon delivery are delivered to Members during the afternoon. All other items of post are delivered to Members the next day at 9am.The Houses of Parliament have no control over delays to the post across the wider Royal Mail network.